Bellingham Waterfront Overlay Analysis

ClientPort of Bellingham
LocationBellingham, WA
HighlightsMaster Planning, Waterfront Redevelopment, Adaptive Reuse, Historic Architecture, Pedestrian Connections, Placemaking, Genius Loci, Local History, Community

The Port of Bellingham, with the support of the City of Bellingham, is redeveloping 237 acres of the waterfront, formerly a pulp and tissue mill. In response to the Port and City’s call for community input, we used our significant expertise in the Bellingham vernacular to present a detailed commentary on the proposed master plan. Through the overlay, we were able to provide a more granular analysis of how buildings meet the site and scale of the development.

Our study proposed better accessibility through new pedestrian and vehicular connections to the waterfront, identification of “a heart of the village” to stitch the neighborhood together, addressing building scale through articulation and modulation in form and materials, and a more robust celebration of the site’s history in our town.

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