Owner: King County Housing Authority
Architect: Bob Kovalenko, Kovalenko/Hale Architects
Engineer: I.L. Gross Structural Engineers
CEO: Pamela B. Stewart
Principal in Charge: Larry Stewart
Senior Project Manager: Jamie Creek
Project Manager: Justin Stewart
Superintendents: Rex Parriott and Dave Yorgensen
Project Engineer: Shawn Scott
ABC members involved in this project:
Propel Insurance
Western Masonry
Birch Creek Apartments, located in Kent, Wash., was the largest renovation effort in the history of the King County Housing Authority and Synergy Construction Inc., with a budget of $48 million. The project included demolishing 100 units, as well as a major renovation for 264 units in 34 buildings. Site work involved an extensive stream restoration and buffering Soosette Creek, adding a pedestrian bridge, and the creation of parks and smaller play areas.
Originally built in 1970, the 26-acre project provided affordable housing but did not connect people in a community. KCHA took over the complex in 1976 with the vision of creating an affordable community that connected residents and encouraged a healthy lifestyle. The redesign included providing handicap accessibility and added larger kitchens and additional bathrooms as needed for the size of the units.
There is a total of 11 different new unit designs featuring one, two, three, four and five bedrooms. The management office created a visible facility separate from housing with an inviting public space and quality private offices for management, maintenance, and security staff. The community garden uses rainwater collected from the roof of an adjacent building.
Synergy increased overall project efficiency and significantly reduced costs resulting in $2 million in value-added improvements for the project. Synergy also provided employment for community outreach workers, constituting more than five percent of the total project workforce. The project achieved Built Green 4 Star designation with sustainable elements including solar hot water heaters, photovoltaic roof panels, triple pane windows, heat recovery and CFL and ENERGY STAR® compliant lighting, low flow plumbing fixtures, drought-resistant landscaping and a cistern system to capture rainwater for irrigation. With substantial recycling and reuse of materials, a total 8.1 million pounds of construction materials were saved from going to a landfill.
The Birch Creek project covered 24 months and 258,675 man hours with no injuries.