The Whitney
Whitney Avenue Apartments is a 264-unit, market-rate multifamily development located in Salt Lake City, Utah, just south of the 1300 South freeway interchange and adjacent to the Walmart on 300 West. The project rises five stories above grade and consists of five levels of Type IIIB wood-frame construction over two levels of Type IA podium construction, one of which includes underground parking. The building’s scale, the transition between construction types, and its urban infill location required careful coordination between structural systems, fire-resistance assemblies, life-safety strategies, and parking integration. Special attention was given to maintaining efficiency in the unit layouts while ensuring the podium and wood-frame systems aligned both structurally and architecturally.
This project marked the first time I played a major role in developing both the floor plan layouts and the exterior elevations. I was heavily involved in refining unit configurations, optimizing circulation corridors, and shaping the façade articulation to balance efficiency, code compliance, constructability, and market appeal. I worked to ensure the elevations reflected the scale of the development while breaking down the massing to better relate to the surrounding context. One of the most valuable lessons I gained from this experience was the importance of interdisciplinary coordination. Working closely with structural, civil, MEP, and fire protection engineers, I learned how to proactively identify conflicts, facilitate communication between consultants, and integrate each discipline’s requirements seamlessly into the design. This experience significantly strengthened my understanding of collaborative project delivery, technical problem-solving, and the critical role coordination plays in successfully executing large-scale multifamily developments from concept through construction documentation.
