Blakeley Village
Seattle, Washington
Blakeley Village reimagines near-campus living as an urban oasis for 1,000 upper-division students by balancing the energy of the city with a sense of a student-centered retreat. Set across five acres between the Burke-Gilman Trail and University Village, the community is designed as a pedestrian- and bike-first environment. By strengthening existing walking and cycling connections while prioritizing safety, affordability, and community, it offers a much-needed respite within an active urban edge.
NAC approached the sites as an internally focused student space, the center of which is the Agora, an 800-foot-long pedestrian mall that weaves outdoor rooms, amenities, and buildings into a calm social spine. This central hub is buffered on the north side by The Trail, a 27-mile core pedestrian connector to the University and the greater city, and on the south side by the forest, a nod to the old growth forests that still occupy pockets of Seattle. Bisecting the Agora is a link between trail and forest and creates a secret connection to some of the best shopping, groceries, and restaurants in the city. These thoroughfares and slow-spaces are layered with planting, seating, and light, creating a space for student life to gather.
To see and be seen is essential to how we learn and grow, and our planning decisions centered around creating a tangible sense of community on this extensive site. Each residential building contributes key amenities—study areas, game rooms, and fitness centers—which activate the central hub of the site both at the ground level and from above with open, second-level common rooms. Custom panels along the agora façade shift in color from Mediterranean Blue to Honeydew to create a rhythm and distinct identity in each building. Warm interior finishes in the common rooms, as well as large-scale murals by Handbuilt Studio, reference the sites history as marshland, grounding the community in a quiet sense of place. Apartments range from studios to four bedrooms.
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Capital Development and Strategic Vision Plan
Western Washington University
