Archinect - News

School soccer field in King County will house 200 bed temporary hospital for COVID-19 patients

2020-03-19T11:49:00-04:00

A temporary field hospital for use by people unable to isolate and recover from COVID-19 in their own homes will be located at a soccer field in Shoreline, a city spokesman said. The Shoreline Temporary Field Hospital, at 19030 First Ave N.E., will provide up to 200 beds, according to the city’s website. It will house “people exposed to, at risk of exposure, or becoming ill with the novel coronavirus..."

According to The Seattle Times, the hospital will be on a turf soccer field that is on a school district property that is leased to the city. King County is creating temporary field hospitals at a number of locations for people who cannot remain in their homes or do not have a home, The Seattle Times reports.

Take a look at the renovated Seattle Asian Art Museum ahead of its grand reopening

2020-02-03T14:34:00-05:00

On Saturday, the Seattle Asian Art Museum will reopen after a two-year, $56 million restoration and renovation, unveiling new and modern spaces to share its extensive collection. The building is one of three associated with the Seattle Art Museum, and except for some minor additions, has not had a major renovation since its construction in 1933.

Aerial view of the museum in Seattle's Volunteer Park. Photo: © Tim Griffith

Seattle-based firm LMN Architects, in collaboration with landscape architect Walker Macy, was in charge of the $56 million, 24-month-long renovation and expansion which includes a new glass-enclosed park lobby, a new gallery, education studio, conservation center, and community meeting room as well as cleaning and preservation of the building's original sandstone facade and Art Deco metal work from 1933.

The museum's restored main entrance lobby. Photo: © Tim Griffith

The New York Times also reports about the firm's behind-the-scenes updates, writing that LMN "added a freight elevator and replaced the original skylights with adjustable light fixtures that emulate natural daylight. It also enhanced the museum’s climate control systems to better protect its collection."

The expansion on the east side of the museum. Photo: © Tim Griffith

Interior view of east side expansion. Photo: © Tim Griffith

Click here to fi...

Olson Kundig unveils new images of Seattle's Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture

2020-01-09T11:47:00-05:00

Seattle-based Olson Kundig has unveiled new images of the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture in Seattle. Opened late last fall, the project challenges the traditional approach to museum design. Instead of concealing back-of-house operations, the design team, led by Tom Kundig, FAIA, RIBA, exhibited these spaces before the public. Arrayed sections of floor-to-ceiling glazing allow visitors to witness the inner-workings of the museum as the design connects collections and research labs with traditionally designed gallery spaces.

"We wanted to create a simple, beautiful, rational and flexible building that will serve the Burke for hundreds of years. It is an inviting place not only for the public, but also for the scientists, researchers and curators of today and tomorrow," said Kundig about the project.

Don't miss these 8 Pacific Northwest firms currently hiring on Archinect Jobs

2019-11-27T13:22:00-05:00

The Pacific Northwest has become a region many architects and designers are drawn to thanks to its amazing nature, ever-growing tech economy, and its penchant for low-impact and sustainable design practices. Continuing from our regional Spotlight on Seattle coverage Archinect has curated a list of eight firms based in Portland, Seattle, Tacoma that are currently offering employment opportunities.

Vancouver Convention Centre West by LMN Architects. Image courtesy of LMN Architects

GGLO seeks a Project Architect/Technical Lead
Location: Seattle, WA
GLLO is a firm that focuses on designing buildings, landscapes, and places that weave together a vibrant mix of uses to embrace the communities in which we work. The idea candidate must have 9 or more years of professional experience, with 1 year minimum relevant US work experience and their architecture license. Working knowledge of multi-family housing and mixed-use project types is required. LEED accreditation (BD+C or ND) and experience wi...

Seattle's F5 Tower is a case study for improving employee satisfaction

2019-11-14T18:00:00-05:00

Tall buildings do more than just help shape skylines. The architects who design these buildings, for example, often strive to create the most "alluring" structures using sometimes mind-boggling structural feats. The corporations and developers who commission these towers, on the other hand, seek the expertise of architects and their teams of engineers and construction experts to create office buildings that can help establish physical representations of their businesses within the built environment.

And what about the employees, the actual users of these towers?

When the Seattle-based technology company F5 Networks relocated their headquarters to what was formerly called "The Mark tower," their goal became to create a new space that places these users at the center of the design. Kurt Schlosser of Geek Wire reports that F5 executives wanted to find ways to improve their employees' commutes and work experiences, for one.

F5 Tower interior stairwell connecting 28 floors of office spa...

Row over Seattle's "tiny homes village" escalates as city moves to shut down facility

2019-11-11T19:13:00-05:00

Since April, the gates have been locked against the city and its contractors, and only a few people let in. The case manager’s office has sat empty since Aug. 5, and no one has left the village for permanent housing since at least July. Now, after an almost seven-month stalemate, the city announced Tuesday it won’t fund the village after December, saying it’s out of compliance with its contract.

In a city-issued press release, Seattle spokesperson Will Lemke writes, “The village will no longer operate after Dec. 31, 2019, and the property will be returned to Seattle City Light.”

City officials, according to The Seattle Times, will help offer “new shelter or housing resources” for anyone displaced by the closure.

What is it like to live in an Alexa-powered smart-home community?

2019-11-11T13:48:00-05:00

Living in a smart home neighborhood, the Fergusons experience both convenience and surveillance. And that's typical in Black Diamond, where Lennar Homes offers smart homes as part of a 4,800 unit development that includes other builders. This neighborhood isn't a one off. There are smart home developments in suburbs outside of cities such as Miami and San Francisco. Lennar is making Amazon tech standard on each of the 45,000 homes it builds this year.

Families in a Lennar Homes development in the Seattle suburb of Black Diamond are settling into their newly built and Amazon smart technology-equipped homes — some to their excitement, others fearing constant surveillance.

"In this community, there are smart homes on one side of the street and houses without the technology on the other," KUOW's Joshua McNichols and Carolyn Adolph tell in their Primed podcast episode about the Amazon smart homes in Black Diamond. "The smart homes all have Ring doorbells, with video cameras. Kelli Ferguson says when she walks down her street, she crosses over to the side without the smart homes. She wants to avoid popping up her neighbors’ cameras."

Amazon's new homeless shelter inside their Seattle Headquarters is nearly complete

2019-11-08T15:20:00-05:00

With Seattle's housing costs increasingly out of reach, it's no surprise that Amazon, one of Seattle's largest employers, is dabbling in housing issues itself. According to a recent article by Aria Bendix of Business Insider, Amazon is following through in a surprising way: By building a homeless shelter within its Seattle headquarters.

Bendix reports, "Two years ago, Marty Hartman, the executive director of Mary's Place homeless shelter in Seattle, received a package from Amazon: The company presented her with a golden key symbolizing access to eight floors of a building in its Seattle headquarters." Under the arrangement, Hartman was offered "permanent space in one of Amazon's corporate offices. Now, that space is almost finished."

Image © Amazon

Anticipated to open in 2020, the shelter will be able to house and serve 275 people per night. Although those numbers are merely a fraction of Seattle's overall homeless population (roughly around 12,500 in King County, according to Benix)...

Introducing Archinect's Spotlight on Seattle

2019-11-07T14:41:00-05:00

Fueled by a strong corporate presence—Amazon, Costco, Microsoft, Starbucks, Zillow and others have their headquarters in the area—and supported by a cluster of higher educational institutions like the University of Washington, Seattle is surging in more ways than one.

Currently home to 4 million people, the Seattle metropolitan region is set to grow to 6 million by 2050, an increase of about 55,000 per year, according to recent estimates reported by the Puget Sound Regional Council. The projected growth could totally re-shape the area’s built environment, as a series of regional transportation initiatives and land-use reforms that have recently begun to take shape aim to densify, diversify, and modernize the Pacific Northwest’s marquee metropolis.

With new housing construction taking off, institutional clients expanding, and a seemingly insatiable office market surging, for the area’s architecture firms, the region’s potential growth means one thing: More work and lots of it.

Ove...

Are you an experienced Project Architect or BIM Coordinator? Don't miss these Seattle-based employment opportunities featured on Archinect Jobs

2019-11-06T12:11:00-05:00

Seattle is a city filled with a rich landscape and notable architectural structures. For this week's job round up, we focus on six architecture firms in Seattle, Washington that are searching for the right candidate to join their team. From experienced project architects and managers to BIM coordinators, don't miss these featured job opportunities listed on Archinect Jobs.

mwworks architecture + design seeks a Project Designer/Manager
Mwworks Architecture+Design is focused on highly crafted, modernist spaces, with a particular emphasis on houses and cabins. The firm is currently looking for an excellent generalist architect that is experienced and confident with all phases of the design and construction process. Project Management experience a plus. Excellent design sensibility and an inherent interest in craft and detail is essential. In addition, strong communication skills, experience with thoroughly documented buildings and drawing sets are required.

Image courtesy of Ankrom Mo...

Seattle seeks to build second regional airport

2019-11-04T12:00:00-05:00

In 2005, the Port of Seattle predicted Sea-Tac would be at capacity by 2021, with 45 million annual passengers. Last year, nearly 50 million people flew into or out of Sea-Tac. And the number of planes landing at the airport is expected to increase by nearly 60% between 2014 and 2034. The Port plans to spend roughly $6 billion by 2027 to expand Sea-Tac to meet that rising demand.

For the third time in 25 years, Seattle is embarking on a quest to add a second regional airport serving the region, one of the fastest-growing in the country.

Olson Kundig's Seattle Space Needle restoration shines in new photos

2019-10-15T19:58:00-04:00

A collection of new images have been unveiled by the architects at Olson Kundig highlighting the firm's recent restoration and renovations of the Seattle Space Needle.

The $100 million revamp made its debut in 2018 and was overseen by Olson Kundig Design Principal Alan Maskin. This project was discussed with Alan when we had him on the podcast...

Conceived in close work with Seattle's Landmarks Preservation Board, the cutting-edge redesign includes 196-percent more glass coverage than before while also featuring improvements that "make the original structure more legible and provide visitors with a widened lens of the stunning city and surrounding landscape," according to a press release.

Image courtesy of Hufton & Crow.

The renovations include the addition of floor-to-ceiling glass panels along the structure's observation level where a revolving glass floor is also located. The glass f...

Pacific Northwest High-Speed Rail study advances with help from Microsoft

2019-10-13T09:00:00-04:00

Microsoft is giving another $223,667 to study the possibility of building a high-speed rail line connecting Vancouver, B.C., Seattle, and Portland, adding to a previous donation. The company is providing a total of $573,667 to the project. Other funders include the Province of British Columbia; the Oregon Department of Transportation; and Washington Department of Transportation.

According to Geek Wire, The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) estimates that the proposed Cascadia Rail high-speed rail system connecting the three cities could spark $355 billion in economic growth in the region, while bringing in around $160 million to $250 million in annual revenue for the rail authority.

In total, the high-speed rail project could cost anywhere from $24 billion to $42 billion to build, reports Geek Wire. WSDOT also expects the high-speed rail to contribute to significant reductions in carbon emissions over time.

Construction teams for Microsoft's new corporate campus outside Seattle use drones to update 100 BIM models in real-time

2019-10-10T17:30:00-04:00

Microsoft's new corporate campus in Redmond, Washington, designed by LMN, NBBJ, WRNS Studio, and ZGF Architects, is being built with a bevy of digital technology tools.

Construction Dive reports that the massive construction project will bring up to 1.3 million square feet of new development to the company's historic corporate office campus. The build-out includes 17 new buildings, each of which will run between 180,000 and 220,000 square feet in size, a Microsoft press release reports. The project includes bringing upgraded accessibility features to the campus while also integrating the development with surrounding landscapes. Berger Partnership will be the lead landscape architect for the development in conjunction with OLIN.

All of this is being brought into being through a data-driven construction process that includes the use of an autonomous drone surveying system that makes weekly passes over the site to create high-accuracy GPS scans of the construction progress.

The surv...

Plan to cover Interstate-5 with a park and high-rise towers receives support in Seattle

2019-10-08T15:22:00-04:00

Data collected by engineering firm WSP indicates that it is structurally possible construct a freeway lid over Interstate 5 (I-5) in Downtown Seattle within all four of the sub-areas studied, which extend from Madison Street to Denny Way. The study also found that integrating midrise and highrise buildings with the lid structure would be compatible and in some cases preferable from an engineering standpoint to deal with grade changes.

Seattle's The Urbanist reports that a plan to add a park and buildings over a depressed portion of Interstate-5 in downtown Seattle is, at the very least, technically feasible. The finding could add momentum to the proposal. Lawrence Halprin's Freeway Park, built in 1976, represents a similar, though smaller-scale version of the idea.

Transit-oriented development thrives ahead of light rail debut in Seattle

2019-10-06T12:00:00-04:00

The Roosevelt neighborhood has the makings of a huge transit-oriented development success story. A building boom is underway, protected bike lanes have recently gone in, and the station site will be home to an affordable housing complex right around the time trains begin operating. Northgate Link, along with an underground station in Roosevelt, will open in 2021, and the neighborhood–like others along the line–are already transforming

The Urbanist takes a look at three neighborhoods in Seattle that have seen a rush in transit-oriented development as a new light rail line heads toward its 2021 completion.

Microsoft, city, and county partner to preserve affordable housing units in Seattle

2019-09-26T12:45:00-04:00

Microsoft, King County and the King County Housing Authority will invest $245 million to provide affordable rents for more than 3,000 low- and middle-income residents through the purchase of five apartment complexes. King County housing authority will buy apartment complexes in Kirkland, Bellevue and Federal Way to ensure that the residents aren’t faced with skyrocketing rental costs seen across the region, the organizations announced Thursday morning.

The 1,029 units purchased in the deal are, according to The Seattle Times, located in areas rich in "naturally occurring affordable housing" that are also particularly vulnerable to displacement.

Microsoft loaned the King County Housing Authority. $60 million for the effort; The investment represents the first deployment of a $500 million pledge the technology giant announced in early 2019 to help preserve housing affordability in the Seattle region.

Seattle is the latest city to consider banning natural gas infrastructure

2019-09-05T21:00:00-04:00

The Seattle City Council will consider a ban on natural gas for newly constructed homes and buildings, favoring the use of electricity for heating and cooking. Councilmember Mike O’Brien plans to introduce legislation this week that would prohibit natural-gas piping systems in new structures, starting next summer. The ban would take effect for permitting on July 1, 2020, according to a draft of the legislation.

If successfully implemented, the ban would position Seattle alongside Berkeley, San Jose, San Francisco as American cities that have recently banned new natural gas infrastructure.

A 2016 report estimates that roughly one-quarter of Seattle's total greenhouse gas emissions come from natural gas use in buildings.

Seattle eyes its first Barcelona-inspired "superblock"

2019-09-03T13:00:00-04:00

After an extensive renovation, the art nouveau market anchoring the neighborhood returned to its original 19th-century splendor last year. In the area around it, parking was moved underground, newly planted trees and shrubs dot the streets and public plazas, children romp in new play areas, and bicyclists and pedestrians now have ample space to move around freely. In short, public space has increased by thousands of square meters — all because car traffic was deprioritized.

In an effort to improve safety conditions for the city's pedestrians and cyclists, Seattle in considering implementing a series of traffic calming measures along a six-block section its Capitol Hill neighborhood that would create the city's first "superblock" configuration.

The move comes as the number of pedestrian fatalities skyrockets in American cities, and as municipalities continue to struggle to implement successful Vision Zero-related road design improvements.

City of Seattle tackles housing affordability, workforce automation, seismic upgrades with new "resilience roadmap"

2019-08-30T21:00:00-04:00

We must continue to prepare for acute shocks— events that could threaten our City’s ability to function, such as natural disasters. We must also address chronic stresses—challenges that weaken our natural, built, or human resources, such as income inequality and chronic homelessness. Stresses often exacerbate the effects of shocks when they occur, particularly for vulnerable populations.

The plan comes as Seattle, the fastest-growing city in the country, and the larger Puget Sound metropolitan region around it, prepare to nearly double in population by 2050.

Seattle's new Rainier Square Tower topped out at 850 feet

2019-08-23T15:18:00-04:00

[...] the Erection Co. topped out Seattle’s 850-ft-tall Rainier Square Tower, with its radical composite steel frame dubbed “speed core,” in only 10 months. Steel erection began last October in the lowest basement. The retail-office-residential building is on course for substantial completion next Aug. 13, according to Andy Bench, project manager for the developer, Wright Runstad & Co.

The NBBJ-designed Rainier Square Tower recently became Seattle's new second-tallest skyscraper after construction height passed 772 feet. Now its developer, Wright Runstad & Company, also celebrated the structure's official topping out at a height of 850 feet.

Today we celebrated the Rainier Square Topping Out in Seattle! Everybody involved with the project signed the final beam and after a couple speeches, it was raised up and fitted into its spot. A great milestone for Rainier Square! pic.twitter.com/YC4mkEK7ZP
— Wright Runstad & Co. (@WrightRunstad) August 15, 2019

"The core, surrounded by a conventional steel frame, consists of a modular sandwich system of cross-tied steel-plate walls, field-filled with concrete," explains Engineering News-Record the unusually fast construction method. "The modules were fabricated by the Supreme Group. The system requires no rebar and no formwork."

Final completion of the 1.7-million-square-foot mixed-use tower is scheduled for mid-August 2020.

...

Seattle's second-tallest skyscraper is almost complete

2019-08-01T20:38:00-04:00

On Friday, as construction crews added another layer of steel to the building, the skyscraper passed 772 feet, the height of Seattle’s former second tallest building, 1201 Third Avenue. Construction crews are expected to top out Rainier Square Tower at 850 feet later this month, according to a spokesperson for Wright Runstad, the building’s developer. Columbia Center, at 937 feet, is the only building taller in Seattle.

NBBJ-designed Rainier Square Tower will be a 1.7-million-square-foot "mix of ground-floor retail, underground parking, 722,000 square feet of office space, and 200 luxury apartments." Upon completion, it will become the seventh-tallest building on the west coast.

Kengo Kuma's Seattle tower dabbles in façadism

2019-07-24T15:11:00-04:00

A quasi-Gothic, Kengo Kuma and Associates-designed 40-story mixed-use skyscraper could be headed to downtown Seattle's Belltown neighborhood.

The project, developed in collaboration with architects Ankrom Moisan, landscape architects Berger Partnership, and developer Pacific Virginia, will not only preserve the facade of the historic Bebb & Gould's Terminal Sales Annex building from 1915, but will also work to use the tower's massing, exterior treatments, and vertically-oriented "regulating lines" to "reinforce the strong Gothic and art deco heritage of Seattle’s downtown."

Massing diagram showing how the new building's geometries relate to the historic building. Images courtesy of City of Seattle, Kengo Kuma & Associates/Ankrom Moisan

A design review submittal to the City of Seattle runs through a variety of options for how the tower's massing might shift to highlight and relate to the Annex. The proposals all share a common trait: The five-story Gothic Revival commercial structure...

Seattle is upzoning to address its housing crisis

2019-05-21T12:52:00-04:00

Seattle’s upzoning plan is set to take place throughout the city, but only 6 percent of single-family neighborhoods will be affected. These neighborhoods will be rezoned to allow for smaller, denser housing, while encouraging developers to keep existing structures and turn them into multifamily housing — like duplexes — in order to preserve a neighborhood’s aesthetic.

Since 2010 Seattle's population has seen a hike of 16%, so have the rents and the property prices. And while real estate in the city is booming, little of the development is targeted towards the growing demand for affordable housing.

Today 75% of Seattle's residential land is zoned for single-family use, prohibiting the development of much needed higher density housing like apartment complexes throughout most of the city. This March, to address the affordable housing scarcity, Mayor Jenny Durkan signed a Mandatory Housing Affordability policy, which would change the zoning of 27 neighborhoods from single-family to multifamily. This "upzoning" is projected to generate 6,000 new homes over the next decade.

In its search for more progressive zoning, the Seattle City Council is also considering laws that'd allow construction of ADUs.

The Amazon Spheres get reviewed

2019-05-01T11:03:00-04:00

The buildings, which resemble glass jars, preserve an image of Amazon’s supposed benevolence as a company and an image of neoliberal capital as growth, as opposed to absence and austerity... Amazon’s decision to abandon plans for its New York–based HQ2 still fresh in everyone’s mind, it’s hard to see The Spheres as anything but an oversized swear jar brimming with half-hearted promises and watery intensions.

Though the greenhouse is one of the oldest building types, its conflation with the office building types in the 20th century was still regarded as a wondrous spectacle. Kevin Roche's Ford Foundation building, for example, was a marvelous example of the combination of corporate modernism and biphilic design when it was completed in 1967 - so much so, in fact, that it inspired a number of imitators.

Amazon Spheres, by NBBJ.

One such imitator is NBBJ's Amazon Spheres, completed in Seattle, Washington last year. For the Los Angeles Review of Books, Sheila Liming reflects on how the interiors of the famed spheres are designed to appear lush, open and airy to render labor invisible (or, at least, to 'beautify' labor). "While I saw plenty of plants and waterfalls and tropical fish, plus the occasional latte," Liming writes, "I didn’t see a lot of work happening, including the work of tending and maintaining the plants, which must be substantial in order for the space to function and look i...

Olson Kundig's Alan Maskin on Icons and Architecture for Children

2019-04-30T12:48:00-04:00

This week Ken and I are joined by Alan Maskin, partner and co-owner of Seattle-based Olson Kundig. Alan shares his story growing up on the East Coast, working as an artist and arts educator before moving onto architecture school in his 30s. He tells us about how he finally landed a job at Olson Kundig after 4 failed job applications, and then strategically moved his way out of his initial role of IT manager. He provides insight into what it took to move up in the firm, eventually becoming a partner and co-owner, and what kind of qualities Olson Kundig looks for when hiring new talent that fits well with time-crafted firm culture.

The Century Project for The Space Needle | Design Principal, Alan Maskin | Project Architect, Blair Payson, LEED AP. Photograph © Nic Lehoux

Of course, we also talk about his work, including the highly publicized renovation of Seattle’s iconic Space Needle, and some recent projects he has designed for children and families. We even get his thoughts on two to...