Bryant Heights Featured in Film: Canopies of Green Urban Density
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ray johnston gives a tour of bryant heights / still from canopies of green uban density
Johnston Architects’ Founding Partner Ray Johnston was recently interviewed by the grassroots organization Don’t Clearcut Seattle and featured in their short film, Canopies of Green Urban Density. The organization takes a strong stance against the City of Seattle’s recently updated Tree Ordinance, which lessens protections for urban trees with the intention of making housing development easier in the city, where a shortage of housing is wreaking havoc on affordability. However, the organization fears that this new policy endangers more than 80% of the city’s tree canopy.
bryant heights includes walking paths and terraced landscaping / photo by ed sozinho
ja worked with the developer, city of seattle, and a creative arborist to ensure these significant trees could be saved / photo by ed sozinho
As part of their efforts to preserve the Emerald City’s greenery, Don’t Clearcut Seattle produced a short film, introducing a collection of architects and activists and giving them an opportunity to share ideas on how to balance our city’s need for density with the protection of our trees. Ray Johnston was interviewed about our work at Bryant Heights, a mixed-use residential neighborhood in North Seattle that integrates condominiums, mixed-use retail, townhomes, and single family houses into the existing urban fabric - and retains numerous large trees.
“What you see ahead of you is this westerly border and you can see a variety of trees that became part of the design. And that’s the unique thing about this project, and a lot of our work: the trees, we felt, were an asset that we could work with that would enhance the character, not only of the buildings that we construct on the site but maintain the character of the neighborhood. So, it was really important in that regard.” - Ray Johnston FAIA
meandering walking paths connect residences to parking and neighborhood amenities / photo by kameron selby
You can learn more about Don’t Clearcut Seattle and watch Canopies of Green Urban Density in its entirety on their website.