The 260-unit Eleanor Apartments is located a block from a future light rail station in Seattle’s Roosevelt neighborhood. A century earlier, natural and man-made forces profoundly affected the neighborhood’s old growth forest. The building design expressly celebrates the motion of water. The scale and traffic noise from Interstate 5, which is adjacent to the site, provides a distinct counterpoint to the tranquility of the surrounding single-family neighborhood. The Eleanor responds to this urban condition with the use of two distinct residential buildings. The east building breaks down the scale of the structure, acknowledging the single-family residences nearby, while the larger form of the west building expresses movement while sheltering the courtyard and east building from the freeway.