The SPU South Transfer Station

Project Title: Seattle Public Utilities South Transfer Station
Landscape Architect: Swift Company
Category: Category I - General Design over $500,000 Construction Budget
Location: Seattle, WA
Description: The Seattle South Transfer Station marks the southern entry into Seattle, signaling Seattle’s commitment to reduced waste, resource management and recycling. Municipal waste is no longer hidden and the project is a physical manifestation of these progressive values - waste is a resource. The station reflects a true partnership of disciplines where carefully designed infrastructure has essential civic value. Landscape architecture is central to project success with grade manipulation creating an innovative circulation scheme. The landscape is folded and cut - sculpted land forms and bold geometries assert an iconic design identity for this critical public facility. Textural gabion veneer walls screen service elements and provide visual interest along the adjacent highway. Plant massing creates a connection to the larger landscape and connects fragmented habitat in this industrial landscape. Thoughtful detail design and material selection bring a human scale to the site - the iconic gabion veneer wall frames the pedestrian entrance and features custom niches where employees curate the display of found treasures rescued from the waste stream - creating new ways to celebrate a long-standing informal practice.

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