Seattle
The Miller/Hull Partnership

Photography © Steve Keating

An unobtrusive building that proves less is more

"It is a highly sustainable structure with an extremely heavy public use of the rooftop plaza." —Paula S. Wallace Architect The Miller/Hull Partnership www.millerhull.com Client City of Seattle, Seattle Center Key players AKB Engineers (structural and civil); The Greenbusch Group (mechanical/acoustical/audio); SiteWorkshop (landscape); Howard S. Wright Construction (general contractor)

Program: A public/private partnership sought to create a new urban park and exhibition hall that could be used as a multipurpose public facility and communal gathering place for an estimated 900,000 people a year. The partners sought to redevelop an existing two-city-block site by demolishing a pavilion that sat dormant and constructing a new facility that would be sustainable, environmentally friendly, and highly adaptable.

Solution: The pavilion was intended to satisfy many functions and serve various user groups, so the design process was a collaborative one among client, campus institutions, organizers of major festivals, and representatives of cultural groups. Because everyone desired to provide a high ratio of open, green space to building/paved surfaces, a "subterranean" design solution made sense. Efficient and sensitive planning placed 14,000 square feet of building space below a rooftop plaza. The glazed north facade of the sunken building uses roll-up doors to open onto an adjacent green and connect the interior exhibition space to a fountain beyond. The green was regraded into a bowl shape to better accommodate large-scale public gatherings. Burying the building below ground reduced the structure's thermal load and lowered lighting energy and heat costs, while the roll-up doors provide natural ventilation, allowing the pavilion to operate without air-conditioning for most of the year.

For more images please see the November 2004 issue or Architectural Record.
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Browse the Projects

The Winners: Limerick County Hall | Britomart Transport Centre | Ehime Prefectural Budokan | Humane Society/SPCA of San Antonio and Bexar County | James M. Wood Comm. Cntr. | Finn Center, Community School of Music and Arts | Fisher Pavilion at Seattle Center | MoMA QNS | Iron Studio, Penland School | Israeli Foreign Ministry

The Finalists: Quintessa Winery | FDNY Fire Zone | University Health Network/ Toronto Hospita | General Mills, World Headquarters | Hotel Monaco (Tariff Building) | Marion Oliver McCaw Hall | Ford Rouge Center | San Francisco Ferry Building | Brentwood Skytrain Station

Editors' Choice: Satellite Operations Facility & Administrative Offices | Montclair Lofts

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