Totem Lake

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An aging 26-acre regional shopping mall sat at the edge of Kirkland’s metro area, the adjacent forest, and Totem Lake. When the mall opened in 1973, it was lauded as the only air-conditioned, climate-controlled mall on the city’s Eastside and was a popular destination and meeting spot for city locals and visitors. The mall faced a fate similar to that of many other American shopping malls; its popularity steadily declined over the past twenty years as it lost tenants and visitors. Much of the property sat vacant for over a decade.

The developers aimed to create a walkable village that reflects the surrounding wooded landscape, fosters a sense of community that is unmistakably rooted in the PNW, and revives an undesirable area back to its height of civic importance. This village would have a small-scale feel enlivened by desirable neighborhood assets such as a state-of-the-art theater, restaurants, a gourmet grocer, retail tenants, and large green spaces. A unique massing would be employed to ensure visual connections to the surrounding landscape and increase daylight access to interior spaces and courtyards.