On the Bellingham waterfront’s former Georgia Pacific site, MxM is working with RMC Architects and the Whatcom Community Foundation to develop a magnetic mixed-use housing and food destination that is intentionally raising the bar for sustainable development in Northwest Washington.

Above a concrete podium, the most expansive landscape spaces hosts events, office spillout spaces, retail, community gardens, and a semi-public promenade with inviting formal and informal spaces contained within a suite of varied outdoor rooms. At intervals, eddies create pause points to overlook the bay, watch the sunset, and take in the view toward the San Juans.

The terrace’s plantings reveal an indigenous food forest that celebrates the endemic fecundity of the region. Planted in the Miyawaki method: hundreds of seedlings will grow and adapt into a thriving, mature biomass that supports a broad diversity of flora, fauna, and food for the Bellingham community.

Linking downtown to the waterfront, past and future, indigenous and settler food traditions, the Millworks site has a triple-bottom line approach that seeks to pay dividends for generations to come.