Aligning with client principles, sustainable solutions were integrated at every opportunity, as the team pursued LEED Gold certification for the building and established best practices for smart, sustainable urban growth.
This building centers around a high-end, pedestrian-focused space. Significant, street-level setbacks create an open, inviting environment and gathering space for diners and shoppers. The area features a landscaped pedestrian galleria with retail frontage, cafes, public seating, and covered waiting areas for streetcar riders.
The team considered future, rather than existing, conditions along the Mercer Street improvement project, coordinating extensively with the SDOT and SCL to create solutions that benefit the client, the city planners and the neighborhood.
Leveraging the team’s substantial civil experience in South Lake Union, we streamlined the project, increasing efficiency, and even daisy-chaining dewatering systems with an adjacent site to allow for significant cost-savings.
A partial alley vacation converted the straight alley to an L-shaped version, improving traffic flow as well as allowing strategic site planning and best use of the footprint.
Provided an efficient structural design that reduced column offsetting while retaining efficient layout for each programming need, accommodating complex stacking loading docks with parking, plazas, retail and office space.
Seamlessly incorporated numerous high design elements into the façade, alley, and atrium framing, including a prominent elevated bridging floor terrace and pergola that links two buildings’ fifth and sixth floors. This unique and intricate connection detailing eliminated several seismic joints and increased lateral efficiency.
A pragmatic approach to excavation and construction sequencing enabled the complex project timeline. Early installation of non-invasive foundation elements around the site’s existing historic structures, maximized the project’s footprint and limited operational loading to the alley. Integration of a steel hybrid truss generated an impressive 60’ clear span in the concrete structure above.
Use of concrete admixtures created a water-tight foundation to mitigate the high water table. Custom wall releases helped facilitate the construction timeline.
Photography © Benjamin Benschneider, Sozinho Imagery, and Doug Scott, All Rights Reserved
