HUGO hOUSE

HOW DO WE PRESERVE and give new life to THE COMMUNITY created in a historic building when the original physical structure no longer exists?

Hugo House is a cornerstone organization in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. The community’s identity was defined by the Victorian house that used to occupy the site. The new space, on the ground floor of a new mixed-use building, evokes the spirit of the former Victorian and its surroundings. The design team strived to create a place of refuge and community in a quickly gentrifying neighborhood. Reclaimed materials from the old Hugo House and other salvaged materials contribute to the lived-in feeling of the new space.

Note: Project Designer while working at NBBJ Design.

SETTING
NBBJ Design

ROLE
design architect
 

TOOLS
revit
indesign
illustrator
physical installation + labor
 

DELIVERABLES
design development
construction documents
presentation drawings
construction administration
installation

BACKGROUND

 

Hugo House was a new tenant improvement project built on the former site of a Victorian house (Hugo House) that housed a community space for writers and the art of the written word. As part of the team at NBBJ Design, I was involved in:

  • research and design development for a public-facing ‘space for writers’ informed by user needs

  • design of the new home for the Hugo House organization, including back of house office space, public gathering spaces, classrooms, and performance spaces.

  • design and documentation using primarily salvaged and donated materials

  • coordination of art installations throughout the space

  • assisting with fabrication and installation of salvaged materials and art pieces.

This project won an AIA Seattle Honor Award in 2020.

DESIGN
OBJECTIVES

 

COMMUNITY PRESERVATION
Maintain the quirky nature of the community that considered the original Victorian house an inspiration to the soul of the organization.

SIMPLE MATERIALS
Materials were chosen for their simple beauty and durability. Most were salvaged or donated to the project.

SENSE OF PLAY AND REFUGE
Small spaces delight the users, providing nooks for individual use and surprises to delight the senses. They spatial layout evokes a meandering back alley.

 
 

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NEW SPACES, OLD MEMORIES

 

The Hugo House organization was given a blank slate, a brand-new empty shell retail space to occupy. This new building was built on the exact location of the demolished Hugo House (literally, a rambling old Victorian home). The challenge for our design team was to infuse the new space with the beloved character of both Hugo House and the rapidly gentrifying Capitol Hill neighborhood.

This series of diagrams shows the strategies for the spatial and material logics used.

MATERIALS CONCEPTS

 

The diagram below shows how the spaces are organized based on activity, and then how this was interpreted into physical and experiential characteristics.

DETAILS AND
INSTALLATIONS

 

The finished space is rich with installations and small elements of surprise and delight.

The coffee / bar is built from reclaimed floorboards from the original Hugo House, which were written on during a ‘demo day’ party. The installation overhead is a compilation of Richard Hugo’s writings, forming the negative space of a ‘house’ over the bar area.

The donor bookshelf installation provides relief along a hallway.

Nooks and crannies along the hallway are reminiscent of a meandering alleyway.

At the more public front of the space, small nooks allow small gathering.

Each classroom has a surprise installation element. In this room, a ‘skylight’ opens to the ceiling above, displaying a quote from Richard hugo.