Alongside Senior Apartments
With connections to the extensive Fanno Creek trail system and an existing nearby senior center, Alongside Senior Apartments provides an active adult living facility that beautifully blends into the surrounding neighborhood.
Details
Name
Alongside Senior Apartments
Client
Northwest Housing Alternatives
Scale
44,000 sf, 58 units
Status
Completed 2023
Location
Tigard, OR
Services
Sector
A collaborative process for an integrated design
The result of a partnership between Northwest Housing Alternatives, the City of Tigard, and Walsh Construction, the 4-story, 58-unit building represents the collaboration of the design-build team with the neighboring community who provided input through an iterative series of workshops.
Site sensitivity and pedestrian connectivity
The 4-story, 58-unit, 44,000 sf building embraces the varied site, minimizing its visual impact by setting back from the adjacent wetlands and a stepped building that accommodates the steeply sloping site. Connections to the trail system and adjacent senior center are established by prioritizing the pedestrian experience and separating vehicular traffic with dedicated, continuous, accessible walkways throughout the site. Where the walking paths cross the drive aisle, changes in paving materials coupled with architectural and landscaping cues alert drivers to the presence of pedestrian traffic.
Bordered by wetlands, a senior center, and an existing neighborhood, Alongside provides senior residents with a comfortable, convenient home that is close to services and recreation.
Priorities and values shape the final vision
The collaboration shaped the final design by revealing priorities, their interconnections, and how best they could be infused into the development of the site and the building. The process led the team to focus on specific values set forth by participants: environment, integrity and stewardship; integration of the community and context; and engagement and transparency of the development process.
Amenities for convenience and connection
The main entrance aligns with the entry of the senior center and provides easy access to the lobby, community rooms, mailboxes, residential services offices, and other amenities. A rooftop amenity provides views of Fanno Creek to the north. Other residential amenities such as the laundry room, trash and recycling room and other back-of-house functions are provided at the lower portion of the building.
Adult living at home in the natural world
The north wing houses more of the 58 one-bedroom units for adults 55 years and older, as well as a gathering space that overlooks Fanno Creek, providing a comfortable year-round gathering place and a visual connection to a meaningful natural resource.
“Alongside Senior Apartments is a testament to the power of collaborative design, where community priorities shaped the design vision. From its seamless integration with the Fanno Creek trail system to its thoughtful placement within the surrounding neighborhood, the building embodies the values set out from the beginning—environmental stewardship, community integration, and transparent engagement.”
Sympathetic Architecture: Harmony with Nature
The building’s design responds to the nearby riparian zone around Fanno Creek. The delicate wetlands have been preserved and honored with a structure that harmoniously nestles into the trees with a façade that evokes tree trunks and branches, mirroring the board and batten exterior of the nearby senior center.
