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DCD Design Cost Data

Creative Hands Studio - Bothell, Washington

Gabbert Architects Planners

Posted: May 17, 2023 | Projects

 

Creative Hands Art Studio needed an inspiring space that could accommodate their growth, while not breaking the budget of a small business. Gabbert Architects Planners used creativity, ingenuity, and imagination to meet the client’s lofty desires on a development-pressured site. The result is an awe inspiring space where kids can explore their creativity in an eye-catching, airy building.  

Dr. Rinkle Shah saw that kids in the Pacific Northwest found connection to themselves, each other, their community, and their heritage through art, ceramics, and pottery. She started her studio in a small retail tenant space but had a grand vision of a beautiful, inspiring space where kids could grow and thrive. After three long years in planning, design, and construction, that dream became a reality in her new, double-height, open-plan studio in 2022. “The building reaches out to the community in the same way that her business has, and we used her story to inspire the design,” the architect noted.  

Dr. Shah and her husband found a nice corner lot on the Bothell-Everett Highway that has some pretty progressive zoning. “The zoning required that a minimum of 50% of the site area be developed.” the design planner stated, “they want the whole area to be much more urban.”  

The design team went on to observe that, while Dr. Shah plans to further develop the site, the project couldn’t wait 5 years for master planning and development. “We needed to find a solution that would allow her to move her growing studio quickly,” the architect said. What happened? They proposed an addition to a 1950s wood-framed building.  

“The jurisdiction really helped us transform this dream into a reality, allowing us to maximize the building through the use of an addition, even though we all knew there wouldn’t be anything recognizable from the original single-story structure.” The design is a heavy timber super-structure around the existing building with open-web roof trusses set off with glass and dramatic angles. It’s an inspirational modern building that sets a theme for what is to come to the corridor peppered with small shops, food trucks, and 50-year-old strip malls. 

Dr. Shah wanted a space that connected to the site, captured views of nature, and let in plenty of natural light. In addition, the space needed to be open and feel lively so that the kids could connect through different types of arts and crafts. “We were also tasked with creating flexible classrooms that could be intimate for smaller groups or really opened up for large classes outside of the main space,” the designer added. The structural concept allowed us to showcase the glue-laminated beams and columns in a way that nods to the contemporary-industrial aesthetic in a uniquely Pacific Northwest way. “It’s the steel-concrete-and-glass feel, but we substituted wood for the steel to give a nod to our timber history and bring warmth and inspiration to the creative spaces,” the architect told us.  

Gabbert Architects Planners started in the 1970s and strives to create communities worth investing in that meet today’s needs without compromising future generations.  

Photograph courtesy of Gabbert Architects Planners/JH Photography LLC

Architect
Gabbert Architects Planners
20011 Ballinger Way, Shoreline, WA 98155
www.gabbertap.com

Location: Bothell, Washington
Date Bid: Jun 2021
Construction Period: Sep 2021 to Dec 2022
Site: 25,700 square feet
Total Square Feet: 6,016
Building Sizes: First floor, 3,900; second floor, 2,116; total, 6,016 square feet.
Building Height: First floor, 12'; second floor, 11'5"; total, 23'5".
Number of Buildings: One.
Basic Construction Type: New/Addition.
Foundation: Cast-in-place, slab-on-grade.
Exterior Walls: Wood frame.
Roof: Membrane.
Floors: Wood.
Interior Walls: Wood stud drywall.

Click here to view the full cost details for this project in the May/June 2023 issue of DCD

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