-
Bellingham Arts District
Nakano Associates worked with the City of Bellingham to create a Master plan for the Bellingham Arts District. The initial phase included area analysis, conceptual master planning, urban design and public outreach to create a place-making vision plan. The second phase was a draft conceptual plan identifying areas in the public right of way that needed improvement such as widening sidewalks and creating urban plazas. The third phase developed plans for the construction of a plaza and street improvements at Bay and Holly, widened sidewalks at Champion Street and streetscapes at the Arts & Children’s Museum. 
-
Seola Gardens
Seola Gardens is a low-impact, sustainable redevelopment of what used to be World War II era public housing. The old housing will be replaced with new units including very low-income, workforce and senior rentals, and first-time buyer and market rate for-sale units. A central neighborhood park is at the heart of the community with play equipment, a hard surface plaza and planted areas. Pocket parks along the site’s edges will provide additional open space for residents and trail connections to the surrounding community 
-
Puyallup Elders Center
The Puyallup Elders Center is located on a historically significant site above the Puyallup River in Tacoma. The design was a collaborative effort with the Tribe’s Elders Advisory Committee, department staff, and the Tribal Council and the final design includes several sustainable landscape features. A 12,000 square foot green roof of colorful drought-tolerant plantings is patterned after traditional weaving designs. A Spirit Garden on the sunny south side of the building has components representing the Puyallups’ traditional tribal territory: a forested hillside of native plants, a cascading water feature, a small wetland area, and gathering spaces with a salmon grilling pit for group events. 
-
Sound Transit East Link
Nakano Associates is working with Sound Transit and the design team on an eastern extension of the Link light rail system. The East Link project would connect to the rail system’s Central Link in downtown Seattle and extend the system east to Mercer Island, Bellevue, Overlake and Redmond with 10 to 13 stations. Our tasks will be to provide preliminary urban design services that examines the neighborhoods surrounding the stations including looking at pedestrian connections and open space opportunities. Along the corridors between stations we will examine options for landscaping, landscape mitigation and open space connections. 
-
Library Media Center
The new Library Media Center sits at the transition from the parking and entrance to the campus. Sustainable landscape systems are integral to the design: roof and pavement runoff are diverted to rain gardens, eliminating stormwater runoff from this area of campus; concrete paving will be salvaged and re-used in the stacked concrete plaza walls. 