325 Westlake

In Seattle, I was fortunate enough to be able to visit a construction job site, located at 325 Westlake in Seattle. The building was right in the middle of the construction phase. This is a remodel of an existing building plus an addition “the tower”. The tower is a five story apartment complex with twelve 700 to 800 square foot apartments, and a fifth floor penthouse suite with a large outdoor area. The existing first floor and loft space are to house an art facility for local artists and an office space in the loft.

   I donned my hardhat and toured the space with Leann, an architect from the Graham Baba firm. Leann mentioned the design was based on a raw, clean aesthetic. Instead of covering the buildings infrastructure, they wanted people to see what is behind the design. They tried to avoid layering sheetrock over functional elements, and instead left most of the original structure exposed. This translated to brick and pipes exposed in a beautiful, simple, industrial manner.

  I learned a lot from this visit. Just listening to Leann speaks of the building in design terms, how they designed with beauty and livability in mind. I hope I will be able to visit again once the project is complete to see the entire vision come to fruition.