Architecture is rooted in materials, history and people. In the Pacific Northwest, building traditions are so closely tied to place that they have their own distinct features. Dubbed the “Northwest Regional” or “Northwest Modern” style, these structures reflect diverse landscapes and construction techniques across project types. The sum is a body of architecture deeply tied to its context.
Northwest Regional buildings have many defining features. They often include the extensive use of unpainted wood and glass, minimal decoration, site integration through asymmetrical floor plans and low roofs with overhanging eaves. There’s an appreciation for craft and detailing, as well as an understanding of views and scale. Zeroing in on Seattle and Puget Sound, the following projects highlight Northwest Regional design through cultural projects. While they share similar features, they each look to redefine what it means to build an architecture of place today.
The Century Project for the Space Needle
By Olson Kundig, Seattle, WA, United States
Olson Kundig’s design of the Space Needle’s new observation deck and restaurant was led by Design Principal Alan Maskin and builds on the same conceptual premise that originally informed the Space Needle – a place devoted to observation. The new design includes the world’s first rotating glass floor on the restaurant level, floor-to-ceiling glass barriers with integral glass benches on the observation deck, a new steel and glass stairway with a glass-floored oculus connecting all three floors, and revised interiors throughout the “top house” of the Needle.
Northwest Railway Museum Archives
By Signal Architecture + Research and The Miller Hull Partnership, Snoqualmie, WA, United States
As an extension to the educational programming of the NW Railway Museum campus, the archives will be one of the few historical repositories in the Cascades possessing a collection focused on the influence of the railroad in the founding and growth of Western Washington. The collection of artifacts and history of this important period in Pacific Northwest history is now protected in this repository and available for research, tours, and learning through community events, training and private appointments.
Seattle Art Museum: Olympic Sculpture Park
By WEISS/MANFREDI, Seattle, WA, United States
As WEISS/MANFREDI explains, the exhibition pavilion provides space for art, performances and educational programming. From this pavilion, the pedestrian route descends to the water, linking three new archetypal landscapes of the northwest: a dense temperate evergreen forest, a deciduous forest and a shoreline garden. The design not only brings sculpture outside of the museum walls but brings the park itself into the landscape of the city.
Pike Place MarketFront
By The Miller Hull Partnership, Seattle, WA, United States
More than just a public market, this neighborhood turned historic district is home to farmers, craftspeople, small businesses and residents, each an integral part of the area’s history and character. Completed in 2017, Pike Place Marketfront caters to the present, but looks to the future, acting as the gateway from the heart of downtown to the waterfront. Today, the project serves as a critical connection point where the most essential goods and services are available within a 10-minute walk and well-served by transit.
Asian Art Museum
By LMN Architects, Seattle, WA, United States
The renovation and addition reaffirms the original character of the Fuller Garden Court as the central hub of the museum, which not only provides access to the gallery spaces, but also establishes a sense of expectation that is reinforced by the two new portals that open to the Park Lobby. The new lobby is the vertical connector to the program spaces and is composed mostly of glass, giving the impression that the space is floating in the landscape. The project honors and preserves the architectural legacy of the historic building and integrity of the park.
325 Westlake
By GRAHAM BABA ARCHITECTS, Seattle, WA, United States
As the design team outlines, the Westlake Avenue façade reveals the MadArt mission by featuring the process of creating art with full-height operable glazing, encouraging interaction between artists and pedestrians, and allowing passers-by to step into the space and experience the art-making process. New awnings provide protection, encouraging people to linger. The existing masonry and wood structure addresses its future life with seismic upgrades including steel moment frames, new roof and upgraded systems.
Chihuly Garden and Glass
By Owen Richards Architects, Seattle, WA, United States
The centerpiece of Chihuly Garden and Glass is the Glasshouse — an expression of Chihuly’s lifelong appreciation for conservatories. The design draws inspiration from Sainte-Chapelle in Paris and the Crystal Palace in London. The installation in the Glasshouse is an expansive, 100-foot long sculpture. Made of many individual elements, it is one of Chihuly’s largest suspended sculptures.
Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture
By Olson Kundig, Seattle, WA, United States
Large areas of glazing maximize transparency and expose the interior experience to the street to connect the Burke to the campus, landscape and city. The design further breaks down traditional museum barriers between public and “back-of-house” spaces, integrating collections and research labs with traditional galleries and enabling visitors and the surrounding community to engage with the process of scientific discovery in a true working museum. The exterior Kebony siding and sequence of tall, narrow windows reference forests across the Pacific Northwest, and like cedar or fir, the Burke’s Scots pine siding will silver with age.
Bainbridge Island Museum of Art
By Coates Design, Bainbridge Island, WA, United States
The team designed BIMA to respond to its environment, embodying its symbolic role as a “living” community institution. As the sun moves around the building, louvers shift automatically, responding to the location and intensity of the sun in the sky. The louvers are controlled by a series of light sensors that trigger them to open and or close. This allows natural light to filter into the building without damaging the art. Outside, BIMA’s striking curved form is a design element attributed in part to the local community.
Seattle Aquarium
By Mithun, Seattle, WA, United States
For the design, a dramatic double-height Great Hall for daytime exhibits and evening events is anchored by a 140,000 gallon exhibit called Window on Washington Waters. Designed by BIOS, LLC, the exhibit highlights native aquatic species from the Northwest coast. At the same time, the new space features natural ventilation, daylight harvesting and a raised access floor for program flexibility.
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