On the boards / harbor lights

Residential Architect, Sept-Oct, 2002 by Cheryl Weber

With Thea's Landing, the city of Tacoma, Wash., is gaining a lively urban waterfront--one that bridges the iconic historic district and a working harbor. The concept, by Mithun Partners, Seattle, was selected in a competition. Currently under construction, it stretches 420 feet along the Thea Foss Waterway Superfund site and includes an esplanade, restaurants, shopping, and 236 apartments and condominiums.

Because the site is cut off from the city by railroad tracks and an elevated highway, Mithun's challenge was to create vibrant buildings that would draw people back and forth over a new glass bridge. "We wanted to provide something uplifting that had a lot of vitality and spirit," says design principal Stephen Cox, AIA. "We had to have exciting retail spaces and residential units to get people to live there."

Tall brick structures along Dock Street echo the historic district across the highway and create a wall of privacy for the people living behind it. Five-story "lanterns" light the entrance to corridors that usher pedestrians down to the waterfront esplanade. Clad in brightly colored metal and glass, they glow from top to bottom and introduce lighter, more fragmented forms on the waterfront.

The firm designed for a mix of street-level stores with five floors of living space above. The top floor houses 45 condo units, many of them lofts with spectacular views of the waterway and Mt. Rainier in the distance. The sights will be just as compelling on the public waterfront, where colorful buildings with strong white and metallic accents break down to pedestrian scale. "The buildings will look complete once the marina is complete," says Cox, "with its aluminum masts, white sails, and flags flying." Construction began in March 2001, and occupancy is slated for October.