Tour an art-gallery inspired commercial office refresh in Seattle, Washington by Cushing Terrell.
Project Overview:
- Design Firm: Cushing Terrell
- Client: Confidential
- Completion Date: 2023
- Location: Seattle, Washington, USA
- Size: 81,789 sq ft
Cushing Terrell provided tenant improvement services for 81,789-square-feet across 11 floors of a commercial office building in Seattle, Washington. The team was tasked with refreshing the amenity spaces and overall aesthetic of the workspace through functional and visual updates. The vision for the project was to brighten both work areas and communal spaces, eliminate clashing accents that had been introduced over time, and incorporate environmental graphic design (EGD) features on each floor.
The overall design concept for the workspace was an art gallery-inspired aesthetic, combining subtle curves, warm wood tones, and a sophisticated muted palette that supports a dynamic EGD package. Influenced by the distinct mood, materiality, and sophistication of a gallery, each floor is designed to celebrate a unique art movement. The EGD draws inspiration from each floor’s designated movement, as well as features “Easter egg” elements that celebrate the client’s culture. To ensure optimal results, Cushing Terrell’s design team partnered with environmental graphic experts, AV specialists, and the client’s security team.
A special effort was made to specify sustainable materials for the project to contribute to the workspace’s wellness factor including zero VOC paint, Cradle to Cradle certified carpet, and vinyl-free wallcovering for the EGD installations throughout. Additional considerations were also made to provide sustainable design solutions: lighting throughout the building was upgraded to efficient LED fixtures; a combination of select new furniture pieces and attic stock pieces were used in tandem; and as much as possible, existing walls, ceilings, concrete floors, systems walls, and workstations were maintained.
Services provided by Cushing Terrell included space planning, schematic design, design development, construction documentation, permit acquisition, furniture specification, and construction administration.
Project Planning
This client has an established design process which includes involvement of stakeholders and communication with a client contact person. They also have design standards that helped inform and guide our team as the project progressed. Pre-design processes such as surveys, engagement, and change management occurred prior to our team’s onboarding, as is the typical structure for this client.
Project Details
An emphasis on employee health was a primary focus of this project, illustrated by features that include art installations in the stairwells to encourage use of stairs between floors, a variety of breakout and collaboration spaces that encourage movement throughout the day, height-adjustable desks throughout, and healthy snack choices in the vending machines. The space’s unique nature is thanks to an extensive branding and art program throughout, with each floor celebrating a different art movement and the company’s identity.
Products
- Mohawk Group Textural Effects Thematic Thread carpet
- LightArt Acoustic Echo acoustic lighting fixtures
- Surfacing Solution Tambour Profile ash wood paneling
- Trinity Tile Color Code ceramic tile
- Bendheim Flutini textured glass
- Sonneman Lighting Movile pendant lights
- Stylex Yoom modular sofas
Overall Project Results
The project’s scope was a renovation of amenity areas and the art and graphic package, so change management was at a minimum. Typical work areas remained largely the same, so employee day-to-day user journeys were unaffected. The addition of lively artwork and EGD elements offer visual interest and employee happiness not previously present throughout the building.
Significant Contributors:
Architecture and Interiors: Cushing Terrell
Contractor: GLY Construction
Structural Engineer: Cushing Terrell
Mechanical Engineer: Hermanson
Lighting: Cushing Terrell
Design Team
PIC – Brad Sperry, John Borer (Project Manager)
Nathan Helfrich (Project Manager & Architecture)
Jessica Earp (Interior Design Lead)
Tamara Upton (Architecture)
David Ho (Architecture)
Kathryn Edwards (Interior Design)
Nick Holzer (Architecture & Environmental Graphic Design)
Mia Kaplan (Environmental Graphic Design)
Katie Karaze (Environmental Graphic Design)
Brian Emmons (Environmental Graphic Design)
Jenna Joki (Environmental Graphic Design)
Genna Granada (Environmental Graphic Design)
Dane Jorgensen (Structural Engineering)
Photography
Grummer Photography
