23-106053 - Project Description -12-27-2023Operation & Maintenance Facility
Federal Way, Washington
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Project Narrative Description
Process III Site Review
Introduction:
The Federal Way Operation & Maintenance facility has been designed specifically to meet the needs of the City of
Federal Way’s operational staff from multiple departments. The facilities program is incorporating both current
and the anticipated growth projections for each department into the master plan for the site and building
designs. As the City of Federal Way continues to develop over the next twenty years, the demand on the City’s
infrastructure and parks will need to keep pace with the anticipated growth of the city.
The City’s current maintenance and operations facilities lacks adequate space to meet the cities present needs,
based on our previous analysis, the existing site will be expanded to the north to accommodate additional
programing space and growth. The existing buildings and infrastructure on site are overcrowded and at the end
of their useful life and this design reflects a total replacement of almost all of the current facility we see today.
The existing facility consists of an old fire station and adjacent residential buildings both are not suited for
continued use by the city. The current design is for a new expanded facilities programed to house the operations
staff from multiple departments while allowing a portion of the existing facility to remain in operation until the
new facility is in place. Following the completion of the new structures the remaining structures and paving will
be removed and the landscaping completed on the site.
Some of the benefits of a new facility include, lower maintenance costs, higher efficiency of use, lower energy
costs, increased security and less impact to existing operations during a renovation project. A new facility will
also have the benefit and efficiency of being design specifically for its intended use. Refer the architectural
drawings and the attached spread sheets for a list of the structures on site and the areas of each building or
space.
Facility Design:
This Facility has been designed to meet the City’s specific programing requirements as well as the Community
Design Guidelines for the City of Federal Way, per the city’s Regulatory Code (FWRC) Chapter 19.115. Refer to
the Site Plan and Building Elevations included with this submittal.
The Site Layout shown captures the recommended relationships, circulation and site storage needs that are
important for efficient operations and management of a Public Works & Parks Facility. In general, the site
features the following buildings and areas.
Site Criteria based upon the need assessment process:
o 17,590 sf. Operations Building
o 25,400 sf. Shops, Vehicle bays and Maintenance facility, plus the future capacity for an additional
10,000 sf.
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Federal Way, Washington
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o 18,043 sf. Covered Storage Buildings, including SWAT storage building
o Vehicle Wash and Fueling station.
o Fleet, Staff and public parking
o Bulk and covered materials storage bunkers
o Equipment Storage structures
o Staging and laydown areas
o Perimeter Security Fencing with site access control gates.
o Future capacity for additional facilities on site
Safety; separation between user groups and efficient traffic flow throughout the site. Visitors, staff
parking, fleet traffic and parking.
Efficiency; use of space and appropriate adjacencies of individual uses.
Cost-effective; maximize the site while allowing for future growth.
FWRC 19.115 Community Design Guidelines:
19.115.050 Site Design:
1) General criteria:
(a) While the site does not have any specific views or natural amenities of note, efforts have been
made to preserve trees at the front of the Operation Building and other locations where possible.
(b & c) As a maintenance and storage facility, pedestrian access by the public is limited to the main
entrance and entry plaza of the operations building. Entry Plazas have been providing at both
the public and staff entry points to the operations building. The main public entry point is
accessible directly from the street and the visitor parking area on the Southwest corner of the
site. This location is both highly visible from the street and allows for a pathway to meander
through an existing grove of trees along the west side of the building. The pathway and plaza is
also visible from the entry lobby and reception area within the structure to provide an inviting a
experience and to promote visual security. The pathway and plaza will be fully landscaped with
pathway lighting and pedestrian amenities such as benches and bike racks.
The staff entry and pedestrian pathways have been located on the northeast corner of the
building and designed to work with the topography to allow for maximize accessibility to both
parking lots, staff and fleet lots with the minimal number of accessibility ramps. From staff entry
point pathways also extends to the overall site and individual buildings of the facilities. A small
terraced plaza has been incorporated in the east side of the facility for use by staff for meeting s
and during lunch breaks. The staff entry plaza and terrace has been centrally located to provide
primary access to the offices, locker rooms, meeting rooms and other joint use areas of the
operation building. Some outdoor seating and table space will be part of the design intent.
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Federal Way, Washington
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(d) The design style of these structures is that of Northwest Contemporary, all the buildings on site
will utilize a similar color and materials pallet across the full range of structures. While the level
of detail of each building is dependent on the structures use, from Sand Shed to Operations
Building, it is the design intent to have a similar material and colors for all the buildings on site.
Refer to the colors and material description for additional detail.
(e) Security is a key element of this design for both public and staff safety and to limit theft and
vandalism of city equipment and the facility in general. Access control will be used around the
fleet and staff side of the facility, both through site fencing and access control gates.
By rotating and elevating the operation building, the design avoided disruption of a nearby tree
of size and age, but also will provide clear line of sight for most of the facility from both the street
and outward from the entrance lobby, hallways and offices. The passive security features are
further enhanced by the electronic security that will be utilized on the site.
The Fleet maintenance bays & adjacent office space, as well as the 24-hr. use of the fueling
center, were placed at the north end of the site to aids in supervision of the full site by staff from
north to south.
The public entrance to the facility, at the operations building, faces both the front street and the
nearby intersection at 28th Ave. and S 312th Street which will provide good visibility of the
entrance for visitor and highlights the main entry point to the building for the public. A fence line
along the full frontage of the site North of the operation building minimize hiding places from
street view.
(f) The facility is fully fenced, with the exception of the visitor parking lot and main public entry
plaza. The site will have access control as well as electronic security system.
(g) The facility has been designed to reflect public ownership and to reduce vandalism, refer to the
above for comments for additional design features that reinforce this approach.
2) Surface parking Lots:
(a) The site has been designed to meet landscape design guidelines per FWRC Chapter 19.125.
(b) Efferent traffic flow is a key part and any good fleet maintenance faculty. Additionally, traffic flow
by use have been design to minimize interaction between the public and staff vehicles and their
interaction with heavy on-site Fleet traffic. The design incorporates well defined areas of use
with and without site directional signage.
(c) Driveways have been placed to align with adjacent cross street intersections to improve visibility
and uniformity of vehicular access points for both pedestrians and drivers. The entry gates have
also been located to avoid the possibility of blocking of streets with trucks or equipment while in
operation.
(d) Not applicable
(e) The Site has been designed to meet FWRC Section 19.115.090 requirements
3) Parking Structures: Not applicable:
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4) Pedestrian circulation and public space:
(a) Public access to the operation building is directly off the city street fronting the site. A separate
redesign is currently in the works by the city for the street fronting the facility. This will include
new paving, sidewalks, lighting and landscaping. Reference documents on this separate project
has been provided for reference. The concrete pathway leading from the city sidewalk, as well as
from the visitor parking lot, has been designed to be fully accessible. The primary public entry
doors to the facility are visible from both the parking lot and the street. The other buildings on
site, which are not open to the public, do not have a direct accessible access pathway without
prior approval by city staff through the public entrance of the operations building.
(b) Pathways on site both public and private are fully delineated by both paving material and pattern
While painted striping will also be utilize it will be in the non-public Fleet Maintenance areas only.
Circulation around the site has been arranged to avoid conflicts between vehicles and
pedestrians.
(c) Pedestrian pathways have been provided between onsite facilities and to the public pathway but
not to adjacent properties for safety concerns and security. All pathways on site are of paved
principally of concrete construction.
(d) While this is not a commercial development some bike racks may be provided at the operation
building for use by both the public and staff.
(e) Site furniture and features have been incorporated into the design. The site will be fully fenced;
benches and other furniture will be part of the overall design package.
(f) The Site has been designed to meet FWRC Section 19.115.090
5) Landscaping: Site landscaping and lighting have been provided, refer to landscape plans
6) Commercial service and institutional facilities:
(a) Service Yards:
Service yards have been designed to meet the requirement of the facilities program. The
operations building will have a standard fully enclosed trash and recycling enclosure with an
overhead canopy to the rear of the facility at the north end of the Staff parking lot for easy
access. The enclosure will utilize CMU screening walls, metal gates and roof structure. The Fleet
maintenance area has a trash facility for (4) larger dumpsters set into the hill side for easy access
for both use and removal of the 40-yard dumpsters. The trash and recycling dock will not be
covered or enclosed due to its use and location on site. No chain-link is anticipated to be used on
site for enclosure or general fencing. Site fencing will be a decorative painted steel security fence
design.
(b) Site Utilities:
The site has been designed to meeting the FWRC requirements with one exception. Due to the
size requirements for electrical panels need to allow for Electric Vehicle charging stations now
and in the future some panels have been located on the exterior of the operations building at the
rear of the facility. This location was selected due to its proximity to the staff parking lot while
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facing the least visible position on the building by the public, facing northeast. The location will
be further screen by the break room terrace and its surrounding railing wall to the east. The
backup generator which is located adjacent to the south fleet entry drive for servicing will be
enclosed on three sides by a screen wall and recessed into the hillside. Other utilizes located on
site will be screened with landscaping, solid fencing or walls.
7) Miscellaneous site elements:
(a) Lighting:
Lighting has been designed to meeting the requirements of this chapter. Decorative lighting will
be utilized at the public entrance and parking areas, while the majority of the site lighting for the
remainder of the site will utilize standard city street lights and poles. These light fixtures will be
supported by wall sconces and wall packs on the individual buildings and structures. Lighting
levels and coverage, including shielding of fixtures to limit light into adjacent property has been
included in the proposed design.
(b) Drive Thru facilities: Not Applicable.
19.115.060 Building Design: All Zoning Districts
Refer to Architectural Drawings
1) General criteria:
(a) The site design is laid out to utilize the existing topography to the greatest extent possible by
terracing the site in order to minimizing the use of retaining walls while reducing the visual
impact to the fleet maintenance buildings on adjacent properties.
The operations building has been placed to front near the adjacent street for easy public access
while the staff parking has been placed five feet lower on the site to work with the existing
grades, yet still allow for an accessible pathways for staff members to the facility.
The Fleet buildings have been sited approximately five below street grade in order to allow the
both requirements of existing soil conditions and for a facility of this size to operate on a single
level with an adjacent fleet parking lot nearby. The terracing of the site will allow for a lower
building profile as view from both the street and adjacent properties and less glare from both the
buildings and vehicle headlights into adjacent properties during operational hours. The existing
site is however quite steep from west to east, at some points over 30 ft. in elevation change.
Some reuse of existing soils, based on geotechnical review, will be possible but limited to parking
areas. Our ability to provide a balanced cut and fill ratio will also be limited by the soils
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encountered during construction. The site has been designed to slope from west to east but at a
rate that allows for a safe and efficient traffic circulation and traffic flow and parking
requirements.
(b) No known view points have been designated across this site.
(c) The design and material selected for the site and building has been chosen to reflect the overall
all design pallet. Due to the terrain there will be the need for some retaining walls of both cast
concrete and modular retaining wall blocks selected to compliment the buildings design and
colors.
2) Building Façade modulation and screening options:
Operations Building
(a) Façade Modulation: The design presented exceeds the minimum requirements for both
width and depth of the modulation, while not exceeding the max width. Recessed areas are 3 ft.
in depth of various widths each less than 60 ft. The design of this facility represents modulation
on all four sides of the structure.
(d) Pedestrian plaza: The building contains an entry plaza that is larger then the minimum
requirement of 200 sf and greater then area required of a building of this size.
Fleet Maintenance Building
This building is set back from the street and is partially block from view by other smaller
structures. This structure along with the other service buildings on site will be within a security
fence that limits public access. This will not allow for option (c) or (d) to be viable solutions, which
leaves only (a) & (b) to meet this requirement without the granting of an exception. Option (b)
will reduce visual surveillance of the site needed for security and a dense planting plan is not a
preferred solution in this case. Can the decorative steel fence be considered in lieu of the dense
landscape requirement?
(a) Façade Modulation: The design presented exceeds the minimum requirements for both
width and depth, while not exceeding the max width. Recessed entry areas are 4 ft. in
depth and 16 ft in width. The design of this facility represents modulation on all four
sides of the structure.
(b) Landscape & decorative fencing for partial screening
(c) Some exterior walls will be utilized as part of the site security fence line.
Departmental Storage Building (S1-S3)
This structure, along with the other service buildings are within a security fence that
limits public access, this does not allow for the use of option (c) or (d) as viable solutions, which
leaves only (a) & (b) to meet this requirement without the granting of an exception. Option (b)
would reduce visual surveillance of the site needed for security and a dense planting plan is not a
preferred solution in this case. Can the decorative steel fence be considered in lieu of the dense
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Federal Way, Washington
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landscape requirements? This alternative method is proposed for consideration in accordance
with FWRC.19.115.100 (5), for the Fleet and storage buildings within the perimeter security
fencing on Site.
(a) Façade Modulation: The design presented exceeds the minimum requirements for both
width and depth, while not exceeding the max width. Recessed entry areas are 3 ft. in
depth and 10 ft. in width. The design of this facility represents modulation on three sides
of the structure.
(b) Landscape screening and decorative fencing for partial screening.
2) Building articulation and scale:
Operations Building
(b) Façade Modulation: The design presented has no blank walls.
Fleet Maintenance Building
(b) Façade Modulation: The design presented has no blank walls.
Departmental Storage Building (S1-S3)
(b) The blank walls of the building are partially screened by the decorative fencing.
3) N/A
4) Methods for reducing building massing: The use of roof line modulation and upper level set backs
has been utilized through out the design in order to reduce the building massing. The use of the
landform to reduce the buildings height from adjacent properties and the street has also been
utilized as well. The buildings on site have a combination of low slope gable roof at 2:12 and
lower relatively flat roofs with parapets to reduce any impact of the buildings massing from the
public right of way. Smaller storage structures vary in height and have been place with sloping
land form, which will provide a variety of building heights within the site. For example, the
individual sand sheds have been sited to align with the adjacent grade, each stepping sited lower
on the site as the grade drops from west to east, giving the group do structures a stepped roof
line rather than one long roof form over all sand bunkers. The final number of Sand sheds will be
dependent on the bid but the pads will be install regardless of the cover for future expansion.
19.115.070 Building and pedestrian orientation
The operations’ building has been designed with an orientation to the street for public access,
and includes a plaza area at the building’s main entry point. While there is pedestrian pathway in
the design at each entry point into the site and facility, access is limited to staff only. While the
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maintenance facility was designed to front on the street, it was not designed to meet public
access requirements for the facility noted in this code sections.
19.115.080
Not applicable.
19.115.090 District Guidelines
1) Residential Use districts:
(a) Parking in general is behind and out of sight of the street. The only parking visible from
the frontage road is a small visitor parking lot adjacent and to the side of the operations
building.
(b) The operations building fronts on the street and the public entry is clearly visible. The
other non-public buildings within the access control area are not.
(c) The front entry vestibule and lobby is designed to be transparent and easily identifiable.
(d) The main entrance to the operations building incorporates a public entry plaza into the
design along with site furniture and features.
(e) No reflective glazing or coatings are anticipated in this design
(f) No chain-link fencing will be used in this design. A decorative steel fencing will be
utilized at the sites perimeter for site for security.
(g) Landscaping is included in the design for frontages and setback, refer to (a) for parking
locations.
(h) Parking visible from the street are broken in to groupings of parking stalls of less then 10
per side of a drive lane
(i) A 6 ft. wide sidewalks to and from the site have been provided.
(j) Light fixtures, standard city street lights will be utilized on site.
(k) The principal public access to the operations building has been designed to meet plaza
requirements with associated landscaping between the street and main entry. The entry
lobby has been designed with storefront windows to maximize transparency between
the building and plaza. The site will contain some bench seating and other site furniture.
(l) The staff break room terrace is fully visible from the break rooms within.
(m-o) Not applicable
(p) All buildings on site that exceed 120 ft in length have incorporated significant structural
modulation into their design.
(q) All buildings are buildings on site are of a single story but have been designed into three
horizontal zones in their composition. (base, middle and top)
(r) Not appicable
19.115.100 Institutional Uses. District Guidelines
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1) Refer to sections noted:
2) Refer to comments above
3) Building Facades that exceed 120 ft. in length and visible from public R.O.W.
There are three buildings on site that exceed this length, the operations building, the fleet
maintenance building and the departmental storage building (S1-S3). Refer to architectural
drawings.
Operations building: approx. 196 ft. in width, per this requirement the total offset distance is
19.6 ft. and a minimum total width of 39.2 ft. The total off set distance proposed is
12+4+12+12+4+12= 56 ft. total > 19.6 ft. The total length of the offset, if grid G is the primary
wall plane is 10+34.5+42.5+8= 95 ft. > 39.2. Based on these calculations the totals proposed
exceeds the requirement.
Fleet Maintenance building: approx. 290 ft. in width, per the requirement the total offset
distance is 29.0 ft. and a minimum total width of 58 ft. The total off set distance proposed is 6
+6+30+10+22= 74 ft. total > 29.0 ft. (In the future the building will expand 10,000 sf, and
additional 100 ft in length, at that point the total office set will be 80 ft. which is still > 39.0 Ft.)
The total length of the offset without the future expansion is greater than half the total length of
the façade. (In the future the total length of the proposed offsets will be 8+34+75+40= 157 ft.
Based on these calculations the totals proposed exceeds the requirement
Departmental Storage Building: approx. 157.5 ft. in width, per the requirement the total offset
distance is 15.75 ft. and a minimum total width of 31.5 ft. The total off set distance proposed is
(5x4)= 20 ft. total > 19.6 ft. The total length of the offset, if grid G is the primary wall plane is
15+15+7.5= 37.5 ft. > 31.5. Based on these calculations the totals proposed exceeds the
requirement.
4) Roof Design:
The roof design of each building is unique but all gables or sloped roofs have a slope of 2:12 and
all low sloped roofs at the operations and fleet buildings have a slope of ½:12 with surrounding
parapet walls. All roof top equipment is screen behind the parapet wall or have screens
attached directly to the units. Refer to architectural drawings.
5) Alternative Methods to Organize and shape the Structural elements of a building:
(a) Refer to section relating to FWRC 19.115.060(2), Request combination of Landscaping
and decorative fencing to meet one of the two required options to meet this
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requirement in lieu of the use of dense landscape screen to improve visibility for site
security.
(b-d) Refer to architectural drawings; building design reflects the objects of these statements.
6) Modification to parking and landscape standards:
The visitor parking lot has been design to meet the standards set by the FWRC. The parking lots
for the staff and fleet have been design to meet the specific requirements for a facility of this
type and have been located at the rear, east side, of the property away from the frontage of the
property and the Public ROW to the west. The parking has been terraced into the hill side to the
greatest extent possible while meeting programing requirements.
7) Lighting Fixtures:
General Site lighting will be provided by standard city street lights with support from lighting off
sidewalls of structure. The design intent is to meet the FWRC requirements for both heights and
shielding of the fixtures.
19.115.105 Self-Service Storage Uses: N/A
19.115.110 Design Criteria for Public Space: N/A
19.115.115 Design Criteria for Residential Open Space: N/A
19.115.120 Design for Cluster Residential: N/A