flexiblefullpage -
billboard - default
interstitial1 - interstitial
catfish1 - bottom
Currently Reading

Amazon’s newest office building will be an ‘urban treehouse’

Office Buildings

Amazon’s newest office building will be an ‘urban treehouse’

The building will provide 405,000 sf of office space in downtown Seattle.


By David Malone, Associate Editor | April 4, 2017

Rendering courtesy of Graphite Design Group

Today, April 4, the design proposal for Amazon’s newest building is scheduled to be presented at a Downtown Design Review meeting. The 17-story, 405,000-sf building, which is being designed by Graphite Design Group, will sit at the site of a former hotel at 2205 Seventh Avenue in Seattle.

According to Curbed Seattle, documents submitted by the architect for review give three options for building massing, with one of those options being preferred over the rest. The preferred option has a recessed center bay that shows the building’s internal stair structure. On either side of the recessed bay are stacked, protruding slabs of floors that zigzag their way up the building. The documents refer to this design as an ‘urban treehouse.”

Other building massing options include a version that again utilizes a recessed bay to show the internal stair structure, but instead of creating a zigzag pattern like the preferred option, the bay is a straight shot from the ground floor to the roof, with the occasional terrace off to the side. In the final of the three options, the internal stair structure is still visible, but instead of it being via a recessed bay, the stairs actually jut out from the rest of the building in three equal, staggered slabs.

The building site, which sits across Blanchard Street from Amazon’s Day One building, was purchased by Acorn Development LLC, an Amazon affiliate, for about $13 million in 2016.

Related Stories

| Aug 11, 2010

Turner, Structure Tone top BD+C's ranking of the 50 largest office contractors

A ranking of the Top 50 Office Contractors based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants

| Aug 11, 2010

AGC unveils comprehensive plan to revive the construction industry

The Associated General Contractors of America unveiled a new plan today designed to revive the nation’s construction industry. The plan, “Build Now for the Future: A Blueprint for Economic Growth,” is designed to reverse predictions that construction activity will continue to shrink through 2010, crippling broader economic growth.

| Aug 11, 2010

PCL Construction, HITT Contracting among nation's largest commercial building contractors, according to BD+C's Giants 300 report

A ranking of the Top 50 Commercial Contractors based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants

| Aug 11, 2010

NBBJ selected to design Russell Investments’ Seattle headquarters

NBBJ has been hired by Russell Investments as the architectural firm to design the interior space of its new global headquarters at 1301 2nd Avenue, a building also designed by NBBJ.

| Aug 11, 2010

Webcor, Hunt Construction lead the way in mixed-use construction, according to BD+C's Giants 300 report

A ranking of the Top 30 Mixed-Use Contractors based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants

| Aug 11, 2010

Report: Fraud levels fall for construction industry, but companies still losing $6.4 million on average

The global construction, engineering and infrastructure industry saw a significant decline in fraud activity with companies losing an average of $6.4 million over the last three years, according to the latest edition of the Kroll Annual Global Fraud Report, released today at the Association of Corporate Counsel’s 2009 Annual Meeting in Boston. This new figure represents less than half of last year’s amount of $14.2 million.

| Aug 11, 2010

AAMA developing product-based green certification program for fenestration

The American Architectural Manufacturers Association is working on a product-based green certification program for residential and commercial fenestration, the organization announced today. AAMA will use the results of a recent green building survey to help shape the program. Among the survey's findings: 77% of respondents reported a green certification program for fenestration would benefit the product selection process for their company.

| Aug 11, 2010

City offices to up daylight, reduce water use

Breaking ground this month and scheduled for completion in November, the Palmetto Bay Village Hall in Miami-Dade County, Fla., will become the operating center for the mayor, village commissioners, government departments, the police department, and commission chambers. The two-story facility has been designed by JMWA Architects to win LEED Gold certification.

| Aug 11, 2010

Glass features keep Phoenix high-rise cool

A 26-story, 700,000-sf glass-clad tower has become downtown Phoenix's first office high-rise in eight years. One Central Park East, developed by Mesirow Financial, designed by SmithGroup, and built by Holder Construction Company, contains 495,000 sf of office space spanning 16 floors, plus a nine-level parking lot and ground-floor retail space.

| Aug 11, 2010

New HQ for automobile association stresses employee collaboration

AAA Northern California, Nevada, and Utah (AAA NCNU) has a new corporate headquarters in Walnut Creek, Calif. The interior of the six-floor, 250,000-sf building features an open layout by architecture firm Gensler to encourage greater collaboration across the automobile association's departments. Targeting LEED Gold certification, the building uses wood from Forest Stewardship Council-certified...

boombox1 - default
boombox2 -
native1 -

More In Category




halfpage1 -

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021