Site Report 1

Block eleven consists of a wide variety of buildings spanning different types of zoning. The most predominant structure is the University of Washington Medicine Center for Pain relief, which serves as an auxiliary building to the main medical center on Montlake. This building features brick architecture with an underground parking lot to compensate for the high usage.  In addition, there is a recording studio, accounting firm and a single house on the south end of the block. Moreover there is a recently installed bike lane with concrete islands separating the lanes from automobile traffic. This is due to the fact that Roosevelt is a major street that connects Downtown and South Lake Union with the northern part of the city. The sidewalks are lined with trees that give an aesthetic to the street that alludes to the previous inhabitation of foliage that was removed in the urbanization of the area. Each building on this block has drastically different architectures which reflect each buildings’ purposes. The Medical Center’s brick is a symbol of its longevity and utilitarian purpose. The recording studio has more a contemporary design which highlights its artistic usage. The lone house on the block maintains the same architecture as the surrounding houses on other blocks, leading one to conclude it was constructed around the same time.

 One of the most stark questions about this block is what was here before the medical center was constructed, as it was clearly built more recently. The second question is, what impact did this construction have on the surrounding blocks? With the exception of the blocks to the west, the surrounding blocks mostly consist of new developments and businesses. Did the surrounding area have an impact on my block or was it the other way around? The last question that could be asked is what impact does being on a busy street have on the development of this block.

Something noteworthy missing from this block is residential buildings, but considering the location with its proximity to many bus stops, a major street and bike lanes it is understandable why this area became more commercial oriented. The data that is most useful is the dates in which the buildings were constructed. This would give a timeline of the development of this block.