WESTLAKE PROJECT

On Thursday morning we met with Leann Crist with Graham Baba a design collective firm in Seattle, WA. The project we were privileged to tour is known as the Westlake Residential project located at 325 Westlake, Seattle, WA. This building originally was a one-story auto garage built in the 1920’s. The front half of the building is undergoing a seismic retrofit with new steel frames and connections between the timber diaphragms and original perimeter masonry walls to function as Mad Art Studio. A new five story steel framed addition comprised of mixed use space and high end residential apartments is being added to the back portion of the building. The structure has a beautiful rawness to it with the steel, concrete, wood decking and utilities being exposed. There is a large skylight that will flush the interior space with natural light. The project delicately balances old with new while also incorporating modern green building practices setting the standard for building reuse in the modern age.