With the recent arrival of their second child, architect Robert Zimmer and his wife, photographer Lara Swimmer, have grown accustomed to planning for the not-quite-knowable. While thinking about their own 4,250-square-foot live/work building in the North Admiral district of Seattle, they got to practice these skills — imagining not just how it would evolve as the kids grew up, but how it might accommodate new zoning in a changing neighborhood. Although the area right now is zoned for multifamily use on two sides and commercial on another, it is becoming more densely developed. So Zimmer designed the building to be adaptable, creating a wing on one side that he uses as his office but could be converted into an accessory dwelling unit or a commercial space. He and his family currently live in the two upper floors, but a new owner might divide it into multiple apartments or office space for multiple tenants. He even designed stacked storage rooms on all three floors so an elevator could be installed there in the future. Flexibility informs the project now as well, with a conference room on the second floor becoming a home theater in the evening.
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