Africatown Plaza

2024

Located at the intersection of community, heritage, and design in Seattle's Central District, Africatown Plaza stands as both affordable housing development and cultural monument. The seven-story mixed-use building delivers 126 affordable homes, ground-floor retail, and office space for the Africatown Community Land Trust, but its greatest achievement lies in embodying collective identity and vision through deeply collaborative design.

Working with David Baker Architects and the development team, Simba experienced how authentic community engagement shaped every aspect of the project. Through design charrettes, listening sessions, and even a custom board game to prioritize ground-floor programming, residents directly influenced the building's form and function. This participatory process led to fundamental design decisions, including flipping the building's orientation to create the desired public gathering space.

The distinctive curving weathering steel form, hovering above the plaza like a protective canopy, emerged from community conversations about shelter, rootedness, and African design identity. The project successfully balances generational perspectives, honoring connections to African cultures while exploring contemporary African American aesthetic expression. As a civic and cultural destination featuring public gathering spaces, Africatown Plaza demonstrates how meaningful community collaboration can create spaces that counter gentrification while celebrating the legacy of Black pioneers who have shaped Seattle for over 140 years.

Team: GGLO, David Baker Architects, Site Workshop.

Role: Design and production team

Photography collaboration with Kenneth Nti & 
Simba Mafundikwa

Image Credit for renderings: David Baker Architects

Sketches Credit: Simba Mafundikwa



Material Studies


Community Engagement

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