Standard Systems, Custom Results: BŌK Modern’s Façade Solutions for Affordable Housing

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In Seattle’s Central District, Africatown Plaza is a bold statement of cultural pride, affordable housing, and architectural ambition. With its sweeping forms, tactile materials, and richly layered façade, the project by David Baker Architects and GGLO doesn’t just provide homes—it tells a story. Behind that story is a technical narrative just as compelling: how BŌK Modern’s precision-engineered façade systems made distinctive architectural features possible.

From afar, Africatown Plaza’s most iconic gesture is its curved, cantilevered corner—an undulating volume clad in weathering steel that evokes the protective canopy of a tree, sheltering a community plaza below. Up close, it’s a seamless surface composed of dozens of custom metal panels—each shaped and precisely placed.

Photo © Sozinho Imagery, click to enlarge.

That execution was powered by a collaboration with the design teams and BŌK Modern, a single-source provider of architectural metal systems known for bridging the gap between architectural design and complex fabrication. For Africatown Plaza, BŌK supplied two key systems: a custom-fabricated metal rainscreen and their patented Nail-On Sunshades™—both derived from the company’s standard product platforms, and customized to the design team’s vision.

Standard Systems, Tailored Execution

What makes BŌK’s contribution notable isn’t just their precision—it’s their flexibility. While the rainscreen panels and sunshade systems used at Africatown Plaza are based on the company’s off-the-shelf technologies, the design teams’ execution was anything but standard.

“From the beginning, our goal was to translate a highly expressive architectural form into a material system that could be manufactured and installed efficiently,” says Russ Naylor, Co-founder of BŌK Modern. “That’s where our approach shines.”

Using a 3D point cloud survey of the building’s curved structural frame, BŌK mapped each segment of the undulating volume with digital accuracy. This data allowed the fabrication team to adjust panel shapes and attachment points in software, ensuring that once on-site, the rainscreen would read as a continuous, flowing skin without distortion or misalignment.

This approach balanced the cost-efficiency of a repeatable system with the design freedom of a bespoke solution—an increasingly important strategy in today’s budget- and timeline-driven projects, particularly in the affordable housing sector.

Photos © Sozinho Imagery

Functional Design, Expressive Results

In addition to the rainscreen, BŌK Modern supplied their Nail-On Sunshades™, fabricated in weathering steel and unfinished aluminum to complement the building’s dual-tone palette and patterned with abstract circular cutouts. The Sunshades are strategically placed near windows to reduce glare and solar heat gain, contributing to the building’s overall energy performance.

The design team’s challenge was to ensure the sunshades aligned with the window systems and maintained pattern continuity and material contrast across the building’s shifting elevations. BŌK’s Nail-On attachment method—similar in principle to a nail-on window fin—made installation clean and efficient, with no protruding brackets to interfere with scaffolding or waterproofing.

Photos © Sozinho Imagery

Performance and Pride

For the residents of Africatown Plaza, the building’s façade does more than protect against the elements—it elevates everyday experience. Often, affordable housing suffers from budget-driven material choices that feel temporary or utilitarian. In contrast, the use of robust, low-maintenance metals like Corten steel and aluminum signals permanence, investment, and pride.

The rainscreen system, for example, creates a ventilated cavity that helps prevent moisture buildup and extends the life of the building envelope. Meanwhile, the metals require no additional finishing, avoiding coatings that can degrade or introduce environmental concerns over time. Both steel and aluminum are recyclable and long-lasting—essential considerations in community-centered, sustainability-driven design.

Photo © Sozinho Imagery

A Model for What’s Possible

Africatown Plaza proves that innovative façade strategies and impactful design are not mutually exclusive with affordability. The collaboration between David Baker Architects, GGLO, and BŌK Modern showcases how productized systems can be customized to support ambitious architectural goals—without spiraling costs or complexity.

“In the end, this project is about partnership,” says Heddie Chu, Co-founder of BŌK Modern. “We took a bold design vision and made it constructible, maintainable, and beautiful. That’s what good system design should do.”