Revamping A Comfort Station
Designers preserve a historic building and provide practical space
By Leah Martin
Photos: Allied8 Architecture & Design
Within one of the most diverse ZIP codes in Seattle, Wash., Brighton Playfield sits between a public middle school and a residential neighborhood, serving as a hub for students, neighbors, and community groups. Allied8 was hired by Seattle Parks & Recreation to renovate the existing comfort station, a classic brick structure built in 1923, which included an office and storage. It had been remodeled by Gordon Walker in 1970, and otherwise hadn’t been touched apart from routine maintenance, but the building had strong bones and, though a small, humble structure, it had visual appeal. Working in tandem with Eric Gold from DA Hogan and Associates Landscape Architecture, who designed the park and playfields, and built by OHNO Construction, the designers advocated for preserving the historic building while maximizing its capacity to serve as a park restroom, as well as a flexible storage space.
Revamping The Space
Seattle Parks and Recreation recently implemented guidelines that call for all-gender restrooms, and this was one of the first buildings constructed under this policy. Park officials requested the building be retrofitted with a series of three restrooms, but with some spatial maneuvering, designers were able to accommodate five restrooms.
The renovated structure also includes a staging area for free and reduced lunch distribution near the comfort station’s breezeway. Double doors leading to a separated room where the refrigerator and food items can be stored were revamped to expand food accessibility for students and families. With 74 percent of the neighboring school’s population qualifying for free and reduced lunches, this service fills a clear need. As the project was being finished during COVID-19, this part of its use may not yet have been implemented.
Calling In Reinforcements
There were several hurdles unique to historic-building preservation that made this project stand out; for example, load-bearing masonry structures are particularly vulnerable in seismic events. To ready the building for the future, masonry walls were reinforced from the interior with a new steel frame built to resist those forces. The result on the interior of the reinforced structure is a dramatic juxtaposition of the past and the present between century-old bricks and a new industrial steel frame.
A Place To Play
The 4-acre park received a facility upgrade from the landscape architectural firm, which included a new playfield, walking paths, and exercise equipment areas. The outdoor fitness zone includes four machines with multiple functions for public use. Lined on three sides by homes, the park connects on its south end directly to a public school. Central and open, the area is truly a neighborhood park, where all of the kids can play; now that the park is lovely and improved, people are driving there from farther away to enjoy the amenities.
The existing trees on the north side of the park are impressive and, as such, DA Hogan and Seattle Parks preserved this vital tree canopy to ensure the health and well-being of neighborhood visitors; the beautiful old trees serve as umbrellas on hot days, with small clearings that invite gatherings and picnics on most days. In a neighborhood where Vietnamese, Arabic, and Somali are spoken as commonly as English, accessible community spaces remain a shared language for connection and belonging. Free, well-kept, accessible community comfort stations are few and far between in Seattle, especially in South Seattle.
Preserving historic buildings is particularly critical in America. Doing so requires thoughtful planning and unique accommodations, but it is worth the reward of preserving a civic, neighborhood building for past, present, and future generations.
Leah Martin, AIA, is a founding Partner at Allied8 Architecture & Design. Reach her at leah@allied8.com or visit Allied8.com.