A sustainable, modern, pedestrian oriented project, 123 West is a mixed use development in the heart of historic Friday Harbor. The site lay vacant for 30 years because of its history as a former fuel storage facility and it’s steep rocky slope. This created a void in the Town’s core and upper/lower waterfront circulation. This challenging site required a creative solution to mend the Friday harbor core.

The Owner in conjunction with Town’s land use staff, collaborated the architect, landscape architect and interior designer. The team worked together to develop a site diagram which retained public views and created new ones, respected the Town’s historic context, and provided a mix of retail and residential uses. This site diagram also divided the building masses into structures scaled to be sympathetic with their surroundings. The central public pedestrian walkway is complimented by the water collection runnel terracing down the slope. The runnel was created to provide a natural feature/stream within the pedestrian alley. It symbolically represents rain flowing down the site and tides flowing in from the shore. Intrinsically encouraging pedestrian flow down from West Street and up from Front Street waterfront.

The water runnel and rain garden were created in response to San Juan Island’s unique microclimate and volcanic geology. It’s weather is shadowed by the Olympic mountain range. Water is a scarce and expensive resource. The runnel catchment system collects at least 80% of site water into a 20-foot deep water tank for reuse onsite.

While 123 West’s design respects the historic scale of the Town of Friday Harbor, it used team collaboration, unique materials, and sustainable principles, to create a project true to our time.

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