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LMN completes overhaul of Buxton Center to connect with history and ecology of Pacific Northwest’s Bainbridge Island

2024-02-13T11:50:00-05:00

LMN Architects has completed an extensive renovation and expansion of the Buxton Center for Bainbridge Performing Arts on Bainbridge Island, Washington. Described by the team as marking “a new era for performers and the arts community in the Pacific Northwest,” the center has been upgraded with a renovated main auditorium and lobby.

Image credit: Lara Swimmer

Visitors to the center are greeted by a new two-story lobby enclosed by a wood and glass curtain wall, responding to the site’s woodland context. Above, a wave-form roof and ceiling plane displays an exposed wood structure, tying the new program spaces together to give the building a clear identity.

Image credit: Lara Swimmer

“The roof and ceiling plane echoes the region’s architectural vernacular and is expressive of the building program,” said LMN Architects principal Mark Tumiski about the scheme. “We took advantage of the scale and tectonic identity of the original structure...

LMN Architects' Seattle Aquarium expansion receives $1M Murdock Trust grant

2023-07-17T16:59:00-04:00

The M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust gave the Seattle Aquarium a $1 million grant toward the construction of the new Ocean Pavilion, the Trust announced Tuesday.

The grant will support the completion of the Seattle Aquarium’s new $160 million Ocean Pavilion, which was designed by LMN Architects. The expansion will add 50,000 square feet of exhibits, theatrical spaces, and support areas. It will integrate a series of public pathways that provide vertical connections between multiple levels of plazas. The pavilion sits adjacent to the Seattle Aquarium’s current location on the Seattle waterfront. Construction on the project began in 2020 and is currently in Phase 4, which entails the creation of the interior habitats and spaces, the public rooftop, the elevator and stairs, and the mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and animal life support systems.

Previously on Archinect: LMN Architects’ 'sweeping' Seattle Aquarium expansion sees significant construction progress

The Ocean Pavilion forms part of a $750 million project by Seattle to redevelop the city’s waterfront, which includes the creation of public parks and cultural spaces. The pavilion has...

LMN Architects announces progress of its new Buxton Center for Bainbridge Performing Arts expansion and remodel

2023-04-11T11:36:00-04:00

LMN Architects is celebrating the near completion of its expansion and renovation of The Buxton Center for Bainbridge Performing Arts in Washington.

Located on Bainbridge Island, the new Buxton Center will create a stronger connection to the island by "reorienting its entry sequence to the axial plan of the island’s town square." The Center will have a wood and glass curtain wall that encloses a two-story lobby space. The lobby will serve as a way to immerse visitors within the surrounding woodland landscape. Adjacent to the center is a studio that will operate as a separate performance venue and will be the primary home of the Bainbridge Performing Arts Theatre School program.

“The original theater was a civic treasure for the island and a vital gathering space to celebrate the arts in the local community,” said LMN Architects Associate Erik Perka. “Throughout the design of the new building, our main goal was to preserve the intimacy of the theater while strengthening the connectio...

LMN Architects’ 'sweeping' Seattle Aquarium expansion sees significant construction progress

2022-12-14T11:34:00-05:00

Construction has commenced on the $160 million expansion to the Seattle Aquarium. Designed by LMN Architects, the new Ocean Pavilion is expected to open in 2024, and will form part of the campus’ vision of becoming “the world’s first planet-positive aquarium.”

Project construction led by Turner. Video courtesy of Turner Construction.

Along the waterfront, the pavilion’s massing is formed of sweeping geometries that integrate a series of public pathways. The multi-level plazas created by the landscape will become part of a network of open spaces along the waterfront, including the adjacent Overlook Walk designed by James Corner Field Operations, Miller Hull, Jacobs, and the City of Seattle.

Image credit: LMN Architects

Inside, the new waterfront pavilion will include 50,000 square feet of immersive exhibits, theatrical spaces, and support areas, in what LMN call an “engaging human environment linking the city, waterfront, and ocean.” The central exhibit of the pavilion will be the 3...

Inside LMN Architects’ exposed mass timber hall at the University of Washington

2022-11-03T11:25:00-04:00

Work has been completed on the LMN Architects-designed Founders Hall at the University of Washington Foster School of Business. The Seattle-based firm, who recently featured on our Meet Your Next Employer series, used the 84,800-square-foot building to create “a new hub for community, entrepreneurship, and innovation” while incorporating architectural principles of sustainability and harmonization with the wider campus.

Photo credit: Tim Griffith

Now completed, the building becomes the first fully mass timber building on the University of Washington campus. In addition to lowering the scheme’s embodied carbon footprint, the use of Douglas fir was also leveraged to create a “warm and inviting” atmosphere within the school. On the exterior, timber is blended with masonry to both reflect the material palette of the surrounding campus, and “hint at the experience” inside.

Photo credit: Tim Griffith

Internally, the building is composed of three volumes hosting student collaboration spaces,...

Meet radical pragmatists LMN Architects: Your Next Employer?

2022-06-13T11:13:00-04:00

Following last week’s visit to New York’s Lang Architecture, we are moving our Meet Your Next Employer series westwards to Seattle, where we find civic design specialists LMN Architects.

The encounter isn’t our first with LMN. Back in 2018, we spoke to the firm’s partner Stephen Van Dyck as part of our How To Get A Job At ____ series. In the conversation, Van Dyck emphasized the importance of speaking thoughtfully about one’s design process, noting “we want to learn about their approach to, and thoughts on design, and how they demonstrate critical thinking and problem solving skills.”

Now counting over one hundred members, the firm is currently hiring for four positions on Archinect Jobs: a Specifications Strategist, Project Manager, Project Architect, and Interior Designer.

Since their founding in 1979, LMN has adopted what they call a “radical pragmatist” approach to design. By begi...

LMN Architects celebrates the topping out of the mass timber Foster School of Business, Founders Hall at the University of Washington

2021-09-27T17:07:00-04:00

LMN Architects’ mass timber structure for Founders Hall at the University of Washington Foster School of Business has topped out.

The 85,000-square-foot structure, expected to be completed in the summer of 2022, frames the northeast edge of the school’s historic Denny Yard, an open space at the heart of the original campus plan. It expands the Foster School of Business education complex while improving connections to the surrounding area.

Image: Adam Hunter / LMN Architects

The building is organized in two parts, a public-facing sector and a more private office sector, which are framed by an open circulation space that also serves as a central connector. Active-learning, collaboration, and event spaces are positioned at the south edge of the site in order to engage with the Denny Yard landscape and to link to the surrounding pedestrian pathways.

Image: LMN Architects

The connector houses a feature stair, circulation spaces, pre-function spaces, and two-tiered classrooms that can ser...

The new Mukilteo Multimodal Ferry Terminal in Washington is inspired by the Coast Salish longhouse

2021-01-05T13:08:00-05:00

The LMN Architects-designed Mukilteo Multimodal Ferry Terminal has officially opened in Mukilteo, Washington. The two-story terminal building is inspired by the tribal longhouse built and used by the region's Coast Salish tribes. Designed in partnership with KPFF Consulting Engineers, the new structure replaces the previously existing terminal built in 1957.

"We listened intently and realized our project had to tell a story, one that had been partially hidden from the general public for years and covered under a Cold War fueling tank farm and a pioneer lumbermill before that," said Charlie Torress, Mukilteo Design Project Manager at Washington State Ferries (WSF) in a statement. "The group of designers asked to bring the project together embraced the goal of designing a new ferry terminal that honored and respected the history and values of the Coast Salish people. While only a transportation facility, it owes a debt to the generations of people who occupied this beautiful piece of ...

LMN Architects' Plant Sciences Building at Washington State University opens

2020-11-18T14:33:00-05:00

Previously covered on Archinect, the Plant Sciences Building at Washington State University has officially opened. Designed and constructed by design-build team of Skanska and LMN Architects, the facility will be the new center for interdisciplinary research that will integrate faculty and students in plant biochemistry, pathology, horticulture, and crop and soil sciences into a single space.

"This isn't just a building—it's a braintrust for the future of Washington agriculture," said Vicky Scharlau, Executive Director of the Washington Winegrowers Association in a statement. "By understanding basic, fundamental plant processes, people here today are creating the foundation for the agriculture of tomorrow."

The building is the fourth to be completed within the master plan for the Research and Education Complex (REC) at WSU, which was originally developed by LMN Architects back in 2005.

"The new Plant Sciences Building marks a significant milestone in Washington State’s commitment t...

LMN Architects completes the Grand Avenue Park Bridge in Washington

2020-10-12T14:19:00-04:00

LMN Architects has completed the Grand Avenue Park Bridge in Everett, Washington. The 257-foot-long steel truss structure spans from the hillside to a vertical concrete tower, creating a dynamic civil space that both addresses utility and leisure.

The new bridge solves an intricate sequence of grade changes through a form that weaves pedestrian ramps and stairs throughout a sloping truss, connecting Grand Avenue Park to the waterfront district.

“As designers, we found these circumstances the perfect opportunity to create a place where the accessible features would define the experience,” says LMN Partner Stephen Van Dyck, AIA. “In its design, the Grand Avenue Park Bridge is also a destination. The bridge’s paths, stairs and spaces create a variety of views beyond and within that make it a place of discovery.”

LMN to bring new Plant Sciences Building to Washington State University

2020-07-13T12:03:00-04:00

Designed by Seattle-based LMN Architects, the new 82,476-square-foot Plant Sciences Building at Washington State University brings previously separated fields of study into a single facility, inserting itself as the latest addition to the university's growing Research and Education Complex (REC). At four-stories, the new structure is the third of six buildings to be built in the REC, which was also masterplanned by LMN.

The Plant Sciences Building will create a new entry for the complex capped by a courtyard for events and daily activities. A high-performance precast concrete facade panel system treated with a sculpted red brick veneer surface has been employed along the building's exterior. Each panel incorporates structure, insulation, weather barrier, interior, and exterior finishes within a single prefabricated whole. This approach accelerates the construction process.

"The Plant Sciences Building represents a major investment in Washington State’s commitment to sustainable agri...

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.

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 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."

Click here to fi...

From housing cars to housing people: the case for designing adaptable parking garages

2016-11-09T15:57:00-05:00

LMN Architects [...] wants the tower to survive 50 to 100 years. “If that’s the case, we do need to make sure—I feel we do have have the responsibility—that if the parking uses do change, we design to be able to adapt to that change,” [...] the coming transformation to a car-free-ish future. With rideshare, bikeshare, carshare, increasing transit options, and fully automated vehicles on the horizon, cities are less eager to allocate precious space for empty, parked cars.

LMN Architects' proposed Seattle tower — potentially the tallest on the West Coast — previously in the Archinect news:

LMN Architects' expansion of the Seattle Asian Art Museum is getting some local pushback

2016-08-30T18:17:00-04:00

Seattle Art Museum hasn't exactly been forthcoming with details about its plans to build an extension on the Seattle Asian Art Museum into Volunteer Park—and some of the neighbors are already unhappy. [...] "They're just grabbing public land and trying to keep it under wraps," said Cassandra Trimble, a neighbor who is starting a petition against the glassed-in structure planned for the east side of the building, designed by LMN Architects.

Seattle's proposed 101-story 4/C Tower considered as too tall by the FAA

2016-01-06T14:05:00-05:00

The proposed Fourth and Columbia Tower...would be a mixed-use office and residential tower rising up 1,111 feet above the street. It would be 101 stories, with two levels of retail shopping, four levels of above-grade parking, and six levels of office space. It would also play home to 350 hotel rooms, and 1,200 residential units...But being the tallest could be something [developer] Crescent Heights may not want to give up.

Previously on Archinect:

Proposed Seattle Tower, designed by LMN Architects, could become the West Coast's tallest