Owner: Compass Housing Alliance
Architect: Rich Wagner, Baylis Architects
CEO: Pamela B. Stewart
Principal in Charge: Larry Stewart
Project Managers: Jeff Hendrickson and Trygve Oye
Superintendents: Jon Stuart and Chad Stewart
Project Engineer: Rudy Weibel
ABC members involved in this project:
Coast Crane Company
Matheus Lumber Company, Inc.
Moncrieff Construction, Inc.
Propel Insurance
Developed by Compass Housing Alliance of Seattle, the Compass Veterans Center provides 59 units of supportive service housing for former veterans and their families. Located in downtown Renton, it is one of the first in the nation to embrace VA supportive service housing with units and programs, and has been recognized as a national model.
Compass Veterans Center Project includes four floors and approximately 65,000-square-feet. The first floor offers leased commercial space and is home to a cafe and music venue. The balance of the building includes a combination of 59 apartment units and several common spaces, along with offices for Compass Housing Alliance’s staff. There is a secure outdoor play area for children, a computer lab, and large, well-appointed common rooms for social activities, community meals and therapeutic group activities.
The center is run by the non-profit Compass Housing Alliance and provides safe housing for veterans that are making a commitment to transition from homelessness to independent living. Their primary goal is to provide affordable housing, while carefully integrating an environmentally, socially, and economically sustainable design.
Compass Veterans Center was designed to maximize energy and resource efficiency. The project met or exceeded the Evergreen Sustainable Development Criteria featuring low VOC paints, zonal heating controls, ENERGY STAR® appliances, energy efficient insulation and light fixtures. The landscaping is designed with native and drought-tolerant plants to limit water use.
The building design incorporated vertical elements, modulation, and a variety of colors and materials to create a rich and varied texture in elevation. The exterior finish materials included a vast amount of masonry elements and a mix of fiber-cement and prefinished metal siding, ornamental steel canopies and stairs, aluminum decks and glass in-filled railings, storefront glazing systems, and highly energy-efficient vinyl windows. Being located in downtown Renton, the soil required 155 augercast piles and extensive grade beam system to support the building. The first floor slab was designed as a structural slab to mitigate the effects of potential settlement below. Level 2 was a 35,000-square-foot post-tensioned concrete deck supporting wood framing for the top three floors.
After construction had started, the client requested that almost two months be shaved off an already aggressive 12-month schedule. The entire team worked closely together on all facets of the project to bring it in seven weeks ahead of the contract scheduled date.
The Renton Veterans Center project covered 10 months and 58,552 man hours with no injuries.