Archinect - News

Field Operations completes major elevated walkway on Seattle waterfront

2024-10-08T08:31:00-04:00

Seattle’s Waterfront Park transformation took another step closer to completion last week with the opening of Overlook Walk, a new elevated park for the waterfront designed by Field Operations. The new walkway creates a “new pedestrian destination and journey between the city and waterfront,” linking the historic Pike Place Market with the Seattle Aquarium, Pier 62, Waterfront Park, and Elliott Bay.

Image credit: Tim Rice

The walkway is located in the footprint of the former Alaskan Way Viaduct, which was demolished to improve access to the waterfront. Sitting between Pike Place Market and the Seattle Aquarium, Overlook Walk bridges a nearly 100 vertical foot gap between the market and waterfront, featuring 360-degree views of downtown Seattle, Lumen Field, T-Mobile Park, Elliott Bay, the Olympic Mountains on the western horizon, and Mount Rainier to the south.

Image credit: Tim Rice

Image credit: Lara Swimmer

The design also envelops the new Seattle Aquarium Ocea...

In the face of post-pandemic habits, U.S. cities turn to vernacular design traditions for answers

2024-09-12T07:00:00-04:00

Gone are the days when the easiest way to make an architectural splash was with a shimmering and photogenic stand-alone building, fancy forms torquing this way and that. Along with exploring new takes on regional or vernacular design traditions, the field’s top talents are taking on projects that reimagine existing institutions or public spaces — or forge new links among them.

In a new piece for The New York Times, Yale School of Architecture senior critic Christopher Hawthorne explores how architects are striving to rejuvenate downtown areas across the U.S., where hybrid work schedules and negative perceptions have led to reduced vibrancy.

While converting commercial buildings into residential spaces is a popular strategy, it's not always feasible due to structural constraints, Hawthorne argues. Architects are therefore exploring strategies to entice activity downtown by reimagining existing structures and incorporating regional aesthetics.

Related on Archinect: Foster + Partners' Three Transamerica redesign wins approval in San Francisco. Image credit: dbox, courtesy of Foster + Partners/SHVO

Throughout the New York Times piece, Hawthorne cites examples such as the Seattle Aquarium's Ocean Pavilion by LMN Architects which reconnects the city to its waterfront, the revitalized Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco by Foster + Partners aimed at attracting ...

Designs of TenBerke and Mahlum Architects-led University of Washington residence hall project unveiled

2024-08-22T18:55:00-04:00

TenBerke, alongside Mahlum Architects, has designed an all-electric, 230,000-square-foot residence hall and wellness center at the University of Washington. Called Haggett Hall, the facility stands nine stories and will house 800 students. The project finalizes a critical component of the University’s decade-long initiative to develop its North Campus and support more students living on campus.

Image: TenBerke

The U-shaped building is positioned dramatically on a forested ridge at the confluence of the campus and the surrounding woodlands. From east to west, the site experiences a 45-foot grade change. Its two primary blocks sit along the length of the ridge, organized north-south to maximize sunlight and fresh air.

Image: TenBerke

At the structure’s northern end, two parallel wings come together, outlining a verdant courtyard in the center of the complex. There are also new, accessible paths that wind through the site, connecting to pre-existing walkways on campus.

Haggett Hall is ta...

Four tranquil Pacific Northwest homes by mwworks: Your Next Employer?

2024-08-12T12:06:00-04:00

Following our previous visit to Tennessee-based HK Architects, we are moving our Meet Your Next Employer series to Washington this week to explore the work of mwworks architecture + design.

Founded in 2007, the Seattle-based firm has built a portfolio spanning architectural and interior design services for residential and commercial clients. “Several aspects of our work tend to stand out,” the firm’s founding partners Steve Mongillo and Eric Walter told our Studio Snapshot series in 2021. “The material palette, the attention to craft and detail, and the relationships of spaces — both within the buildings and in the landscape beyond. Our favorite work has a clarity or simplicity but also a calm and warmth that comes from the layering of materials and textures.”

Over on Archinect Jobs, the firm is currently seeking several professionals to join their Seattle office. For candidates interested in applying for the position or anybody interested in learning more about the firm’s output, w...

Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation teams up with Lindal to offer replica Usonian home designs with a modern twist

2024-06-24T13:07:00-04:00

Your chance to build a version of one of Frank Lloyd Wright's seminal Usonian home designs has now become available thanks to a new collaboration between the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation and the Seattle-based home construction company Lindal Cedar Homes.

Replica designs inspired by the Bachman-Wilson home, Gordon House, and Seth Peterson cottage count among the nine available for purchase. Lindal says each has been "updated for modern living," offering clients customization on top of the experience of being "liberated" (as Wright liked to imagine) by their unique combination of openness, light, and an organic relationship to nature.

'Crystal Springs' (inspired by Bachman-Wilson home design). Image courtesy Lindal Cedar Homes

The foundation’s CEO, Stuart Graff, commented, "The Lindal Imagine series reflects a modern embodiment of Frank Lloyd Wright’s principles; sensitive to the attributes of Usonian design while meeting the demands of contemporary living."

'Mirror Lake' (inspired by...

SRG Partnership announces merger with CannonDesign

2024-02-02T17:14:00-05:00

The Seattle/Portland-based SRG Partnership has announced its merger with CannonDesign in a move that will be felt widely in the health and wellness, education, science and technology, and sports and recreation sectors in the Pacific Northwest market and beyond.

SRG will be reorganized as SRG + CannonDesign. The new entity brings CannonDesign into the region for the first time. CannonDesign now has 18 offices and nearly 1,300 staff working globally, counting the additional employees moving over from SRG.

Edward J. Ray Hall at Oregon State University. Photo credit: SRG Partnership

“There's a clear synergy in our firms’ shared commitment to design excellence,” David Polzin, CannonDesign’s Executive Director of Design, said at the announcement. “SRG’s portfolio is outstanding, both regionally sensitive and transcendent of place. Their teams’ dedication to being environmentally responsible, resilient and equitable is evident in their work.”

A project at Washington State University's Evere...

Washington State effectively bans fossil-fueled appliances in new construction

2023-11-30T13:39:00-05:00

It will soon become nearly impossible to install fossil-fueled appliances to heat new homes and businesses in Washington. [...] The codes will require new homes and buildings to meet the same total energy performance as those built with electric heat pumps while allowing builders flexibility to choose appliances. Basically, if builders choose gas appliances, they will need to make up the efficiency losses elsewhere in the construction.

The state’s building code update puts them in league with California, Maryland, and major cities New York, Los Angeles, and Boston to have adopted similar policies.

The new amendments offer a “watered-down” alternative to a proposed electric heat pump mandate that was abandoned in the wake of a federal ruling against Berkeley, California’s natural gas ban from 2019.

The state’s building and construction industry is one of many being targeted by lawmakers in an effort to eliminate all greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

Five contemporary timber homes by Wittman Estes: Your Next Employer?

2023-10-30T15:20:00-04:00

Following last week’s visit to Wyoming-based Dynia Architects, we are moving our Meet Your Next Employer series to Seattle this week to explore the work of Wittman Estes.

Founded in 2012, and spanning architecture and landscape operations, the firm operates on “the idea that buildings and landscapes can be combined into one interconnected whole.” Back in 2017, Archinect sat down with firm founders Matt Wittman and Jody Estes as part of our Studio Snapshot series, in which the duo described their firm as “part of a new movement of young Seattle practices who reject architecture as object and shape-driven form-making in favor of an architecture of experience and site connection.”

Over on Archinect Jobs, the firm is currently hiring a Drafter/Designer to join their Seattle office. For candidates interested in applying for the position, or anybody interested in learning about the firm’s output, we have rounded up five contemporary timber homes by Wittman Estes that exemplify the studio’...

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport's $400M C Concourse Expansion gets cleared for takeoff

2023-10-15T08:00:00-04:00

A previously-announced plan from Woods Bagot and The Miller Hull Partnership is moving forward in Washington State after officials with the Port of Seattle Commission finally approved the $399 million C Concourse Expansion for the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

The expansion will add 145,530 square feet in total, including a 20,000-square-foot Alaska Airlines passenger lounge, multifaith prayer room, meditation center, nursery room, amphitheater, and a retail/dining area called The Grand Stairs, to an existing structure from 1966. The firms say their proposal “rethinks the airport experience where design creates an intuitive journey, a sense of calm, and climate consciousness.” Turner has been contracted to lead the construction.

Rendering courtesy of The Miller Hull Partnership and Woods Bagot.

SEA planning officials are optimistic its realization will add to its claims of being the most energy-efficient port in the country as the first major construction to be undertaken in ...

A ‘textural and reflective building skin’ wraps the University of Washington’s new Health Sciences Education Building

2023-10-12T14:08:00-04:00

A team comprising The Miller Hull Partnership, The S/L/A/M Collaborative, and Lease Crutcher Lewis has completed the new Health Sciences Education Building at the University of Washington in Seattle. Designed using a ‘culture of care’ philosophy, the scheme seeks to provide a “shared physical space that sparks innovation and creativity among students.”

Image credit: Moris Moreno

Marking a new entrance to the university’s South Campus, the Health Sciences Education Building is the first project to be delivered as part of a wider campus master plan. While the existing campus prioritizes an indoor circulation system between buildings, the new scheme seeks to pull people outdoors and introduce a new network of accessible pathways, murals, and sculptural public art, as well as outdoor seating areas.

Image credit: Moris Moreno

The building is constructed of a hybrid system using steel, concrete, and cross-laminated timber. Inside, the incl...

TenBerke announces University of Washington residence hall project with Mahlum Architects

2023-07-28T12:25:00-04:00

TenBerke has announced a new dormitory project for the University of Washington in Seattle co-led with local mainstays Mahlum Architects, a leader in green building design.

The scope of the new Haggett Hall project encompasses a 200,000-square-foot residential hall with 800 beds and a fitness center located in the North Campus neighborhood of UW, which is currently undergoing a housing-focused transformation.

The firm’s first-ever West Coast project will incorporate its surroundings on an acre-and-a-half site on the periphery of campus and a woodland area. The project will be delivered using an “integrated design-build process” with Anderson Construction as its lead contractor and using the findings of a student engagement process that began in May.

Senior Principal Arthi Krishnamoorthy says it is part of TenBerke’s push to deliver a new generation of student housing marked b...

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...

ADU construction is now outpacing single-family developments in Seattle

2023-04-10T16:39:00-04:00

The simplest takeaway from Seattle’s new report is that ADU production is up. The city granted permits to 988 units last year, and more than 650 were built — not all projects are built during the year they get permitted — outpacing the construction of single houses for the first time

As the Seattle Times reports, a change in regulations in 2019 led to the ADU boom locally. The city will now permit up to two ADU developments per lot, leading to a better-than-predicted 1,336 units being constructed against a total of 554 single-family homes being razed over a two-year period ending in 2022.

Seattle is estimated to need an additional 55,000 units of housing per year for the next two decades, over half of which need to be reserved for households that qualify as low-income. The report indicated builders' acceptance in terms of adaptation thus far. Citywide, two-thirds of all new single-family designs built last year included at least one ADU in their construction.

Women-led project team breaks ground on the Seattle Storm Center for Basketball Performance

2023-04-03T14:47:00-04:00

Seattle welcomes a new basketball performance center that won't just be a "world-class facility" but a space to support, foster, and train female professional athletes. Four-time WNBA champions, the Seattle Storm, celebrated an important milestone as their 50,000-square-foot Seattle Storm Center for Basketball Performance broke ground on Monday, March 27.

While it's said to "be the first facility of its kind in the United States," what makes this endeavor even more notable is that its project team is 85% female-led, across five firms and practices specializing in architecture, landscape architecture, construction, and real estate.

Female design and engineering team photographed at Seattle Storm Center for Basketball Performance's groundbreaking. Image courtesy of ZGF Architects/Shive-Hattery Architects

Participating design team ZGF Architects shared: "The goal was to build a world-class facility for world-class female athletes — with women-led teams who are experts in their field."...

Black churches are leading the fight to create affordable housing nationwide

2023-02-10T17:29:00-05:00

As the religious and urban landscape changes in North America, churches have had to adapt and evolve. [...] Black churches are responding to these shifts in religiousness, population change, and lack of housing by working to change land use regulations and asking how church property can serve a different function in the community.

Seattle’s Nehemiah Initiative is cited as one example of the nationwide movement that is taking root in Washington, D.C., San Diego, and Oakland, among other places. There, certain neighborhoods have seen more than 50% declines in their Black population. A pair of University of Washington studio courses recently produced feasibility studies for nine churches in the Central district, resulting in four entering into the predevelopment process for housing starts.

Churches are a known commodity in the fight against other forms of injustice and are now turning to zoning regulations as a means of pressing local policymakers into action in increased numbers. More than 4.3 million units are needed to meet demands by 2035 nationally, and successful programs like Alameda County’s Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) are seen as the best models for abatement of that problem in league with a...

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,...

21 architecture jobs in Seattle, Tacoma, and Bellingham

2022-09-23T12:00:00-04:00

Looking for an architecture job in the Evergreen State? Start your employment search in three Washington State cities Seattle, Bellingham, and Tacoma. For this curated job round-up, we highlight 11 architecture firms currently hiring.

The Archinect Job Board features 100+ employment opportunities from hundreds of firms each week. Check out who's hiring below.

Opportunities based in Seattle, WA

Golden View Residence by Workshop AD. Image © Kevin Scott

Workshop AD seeks a Project Designer/Architect

Details: "Our practice is growing, we are building projects, and we are seeking motivated candidates to join our team. We are currently seeking a Project Designer / Architect with five years of experience to join our team. This position requires collaboration, motivation, and an interest to work within a broad range of housing typologies and scales. Our work involves a comprehensive approach that incorporates interior architecture." Read more here.

Johnson Oaklief Architecture + Planning,...

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...

5 Seattle-based architecture jobs and internships for recent graduates and emerging designers

2022-06-01T11:52:00-04:00

Are you an emerging design professional who's graduated within the past two years OR a recent graduate looking to kick start your experience in professional practice?

Continuing with our focus on highlighting employment opportunities for recent architecture graduates, here are five firms with open positions currently featured on the Archinect Job board.

Hood Cliff Retreat by Wittman Estes. Image © Andrew Pogue/Courtesy of Wittman Estes.

Wittman Estes seeks a Summer intern Designer

Details: "Wittman Estes is seeking a designer intern to work in person with our practice in Georgetown, Seattle this summer. Our work is based on the belief in our right to nature, that architecture and nature should be combined into one interconnected whole. Seeking applicants with the following qualifications: currently enrolled in or completed professional degree in Architecture, proficient in AutoCAD, SketchUp, and Adobe CS, revit skills encouraged..." Read more here.

PAU seeks an Intermediate Level Urb...

Woods Bagot unveils designs for the new C Concourse Expansion at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport

2022-05-09T15:15:00-04:00

The industry's shift towards more sustainable airport design is taking on another form in Washington State after Woods Bagot revealed their designs for an ecologically-sound C Concourse Expansion at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

Part of a series of capital improvements, the scope of the project entails the four-story expansion of an existing structure from 1966 and will follow the Port of Seattle’s new Sustainable Project Framework — a first for large developments under the body’s new environmentally-strident guidelines.

Image courtesy Woods Bagot

Per the architects, the 145,530-square-foot expansion “rethinks the airport experience where design creates an intuitive journey, a sense of calm, and climate consciousness. Miller Hull and Woods Bagot are leading the project’s design concept of 'bringing in and seeing out' to create an interplay of environments between the natural landscapes of the Pacific Northwest and the energy and vibrancy of Seattle.”

The project will re...

Olson Kundig is expanding to New York City after six decades in Seattle

2022-04-29T14:04:00-04:00

The Big Apple is picking up a West Coast vibe after Olson Kundig’s announcement that it will be expanding its operation into New York City for the first time.

The award-winning firm has been in business since 1966, operating out of a renovated space in Seattle’s old Shoe Factory Building since the project’s completion in 2003.

Olson Kundig's new East Coast outpost will be located on the tenth floor of a historic Jazz Age building located in Midtown’s Bryant Park neighborhood. The office features a central collective space called The Living Room, which is anchored by a particularly PNW import personally designed by Tom Kundig with built-in turntables from Seattle icon Sub Pop Records.

Olson Kundig's Seattle headquarters. Image courtesy Olson Kundig.

“While Olson Kundig previously occupied a small workspace in New York, this new office represents a more significant investment in office space and participation with the design culture of the city,” CEO and principal Hemanshu Parwani expl...

10 featured architecture jobs in Seattle

2022-04-28T11:43:00-04:00

Interested in surrounding yourself with lakes, mountains, and evergreen forests? Seattle is home to many architectural icons. Take Rainer Tower, designed by Minoru Yamasaki, the Space Needle, recently updated by Olson Kundig, Safeco Plaza, the city's oldest downtown skyscraper designed by NBBJ, and the eye-catching Museum of Pop Culture, designed by Frank Gehry.

Archinect Jobs, the industry's leading architecture job board, features career opportunities for architects and design professionals from various backgrounds and work experience levels. For our curated jobs round-up this week, we're highlighting 8 Seattle-based architecture firms looking to hire the right candidate to join their team.

Corinthian Yacht Club (CYC) Renovations project by Johnson Oaklief Architecture + Planning, LLC. Image courtesy of firm.

Johnson Oaklief Architecture + Planning, LLC seeks an Architectural Designer

Details: "We seek a talented architect with at least five years of experience in the field. It wou...

20 highlighted architecture job opportunities in the Seattle area

2022-01-20T15:06:00-05:00

Searching for a new job in 2022 in the Emerald City? The Archinect Job Board features employment opportunities from hundreds of firms. For this week's curated jobs round-up, we're featuring 20 jobs from 9 firms based in the Seattle area.

As you prepare to find a new job, don't forget to check out helpful resources and articles from our Archinect Tips section. From resume revamps, portfolio breakdowns, and virtual job interview tips, our professional practice-focused editorial will keep you informed and ready to tackle the workforce.

Opportunities based in Seattle, WA

Workshop AD seeks a Project Architect and Project Designer

Details: "Our Seattle-based architecture practice is focused on compelling projects across a range of geographies and scales. We believe a workshop is not about a single voice, but a collective effort. We also believe in a workshop’s most honorable commitments to material, craft, and exploration. This mo...

Gensler selected for new UW college basketball training facility in Seattle

2021-11-18T11:53:00-05:00

An ambitious new athletic facility for the University of Washington’s men’s and women’s basketball programs has got the ball rolling thanks to a design from Gensler.

The newly-approved Basketball Training & Operations Facility and Health & High Performance Center is seen as an enhancement of student-athlete life as well as a potential recruiting tool, for a program that has recently missed its shot to attract and retain several high-level future pros.

The project is being paid for entirely through private donations to UW’s athletics program, a fact that is especially welcome at a time when the university’s funds are in much greater need in other areas of campus life.

The facility will be installed on the current site of the historic Hec Edmundson Pavilion, one of America's oldest college gyms, and will include state-of-the-art new practice courts, locker rooms, dedicated film study rooms, player lounges, and something called an “enhanced performance center.”

In related Gensler Spor...

Populous' overhauled Climate Pledge Arena is officially open in Seattle

2021-10-26T10:13:00-04:00

The puck has dropped on the home debut of the NHL’s newest franchise. Seattle’s Kraken professional hockey team is settling into its new digs after the Populous-designed Climate Pledge Arena officially opened on Friday in the Emerald City.

The 17,400-seat arena is the risen corpse of the building known formerly as KeyArena, the original Paul Thiry structure from 1962 that was once home to the beloved world champion SuperSonics.

In the past, the city has been plagued by its inability to successfully find public funds for a replacement arena that would have kept the erstwhile NBA franchise from moving to Oklahoma (the city can also thank Howard Schultz for that) but was able to secure the private funding necessary to construct the arena, which came with a steep $1.15 billion price tag.

Now, the expanded 740,000-square-foot arena can bill itself as the world’s first net-zero carbon professional sports facility thanks to a solar roof that also features the ability to harvest rainwater, ...

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...

"MudHoney" begins excavating tunnel for Ship Canal Water Quality Project in Seattle

2021-08-16T18:31:00-04:00

Italian construction and civil engineering company Webuild Group’s U.S. subsidiary, Lane Construction Corporation, has begun excavating a 2.7-mile, 18.1-feet diameter water storage tunnel in Seattle. The $570 million undertaking is titled the Ship Canal Water Quality Project, an environmental sustainability project that aims to prevent untreated stormwater and sewage from infiltrating major bodies of water in the region.

The tunnel will prevent up to 75 million gallons of contaminated water, known as combined sewer overflow, from flowing into the Lake Washington Ship Canal, Salmon Bay, and Lake Union every year. In addition, the tunnel will capture and temporarily hold more than 29 million gallons of stormwater and sewage during heavy rainfall.

The tunnel boring machine that is excavating the tunnel has recently been assigned its name following an online vote launched by Seattle Public Utilities. The overwhelming winner was MudHoney, which accrued more than 76% of the vote. Other ...

Seattle houseboat gets a second life on land

2021-08-11T09:01:00-04:00

A historic houseboat in Seattle’s Madison Park neighborhood is getting new life thanks to a 3-year renovation project from local firm Best Practice.

The firm’s effort expanded the houseboat’s original 1,200-square-foot footprint with an 800-square-foot black metal facade addition that will help an area couple find a more comfortable fit for their growing young family.

Per the architect: “This residence began its life as a floating home on Lake Union! It was transported and firmly affixed to the ground near the shore of Lake Washington, but we still like to think of it as a Boathouse. With a charming street presence, the design team crafted an open interior space with vaulted ceilings, new basement living spaces and a primary suite upstairs in the new addition.”

Best practice turned the existing bedroom into a whimsical space for the couple’s daughter. An open floor plan replaces the clutter of the previous layout and features a vaulted stained cedar ceili...

Kurt Cobain's childhood home is now a historic landmark in Washington State

2021-08-04T17:18:00-04:00

The one-and-a-half story house on 1210 E. First St. has been added to the state’s list of landmarks because it “is directly connected to specific activities or events which had a lasting impact on the community or region,” according to the Washington Heritage Register.

The Cobain house will now avoid the fate of Jimi Hendrix' childhood home two hours away in Seattle. Cobain made Aberdeen, WA a bit of a household name for 90s pop culture followers. The town has since named a park in his honor after declining to do so for an area bridge the future Nirvana frontman was supposed to have slept under before his rise to fame and which is now a magnet for grunge fans and Cobain-inspired graffiti.

Cobain's mother eventually sold the home for a reduced price after originally putting it on the market in 2013. The home was bought by a lighting designer and will soon begin accepting visitors following a brief renovation. Rolling Stone has more on the state's designation here.