Client: Plymouth Housing
Location: Seattle, Washington
Cost: $200,000 (construction)
Size: 41,800 SF
Completion Date: 2025

Originally known as the Leamington Hotel and Apartments, Plymouth Housing’s Pacific Apartments was constructed in 1915 in the Beaux Arts Revival style. The 3-story U-shaped concrete building is clad in brick, terra cotta, and stucco with the east wing serving as apartments for long term residents and the west wing serving as short term living quarters for sailors and miners. The building is listed on the Register of Historic Places at the local, state, and national levels. The present owner, Plymouth Housing, is undertaking the rehabilitation of the building to enhance it’s service as low income and subsidized housing.

Richaven served an integral part of Pacific Apartments’ rehabilitation project and provided professional preservation services as an Historic Architect. Richaven completed a building condition assessment, design and construction bid documentation for exterior envelope restoration, completed landmarks approvals, including Seattle Landmarks, Section 106, and Historic Tax Credits. Richaven also completed material testing and analysis of the mortar and stucco on the exterior. Richaven also completed construction administration while also providing support to the design team on several preservation-related issues.

Specific technical preservation issues include:

  • Repointing masonry joints; 10-20% of brick and 50-60% of terra cotta
  • Multiple failures of sealants and sealants installed in inappropriate locations (i.e., at masonry joints)
  • Chip, cracks, spalling, and crazing in terra cotta block
  • Corroded embedded steel in terra cotta
  • Corrosion and paint coating failures on architectural metals
  • Failing coating systems on wood materials
  • Severe rotting at wood framing
  • Delaminating stucco and failing elastomeric coatings
  • Multiple forms of soiling on exterior wall surfaces (dirt, atmospheric soiling, paint, markers, organic growth, efflorescence, and more)
  • Delaminating stucco that was directly applied over hollow clay tile