design '96

[design '96]

The Puget Sound area is enjoying quite a development spurt, one that many feel was a long-time coming. With projects such as the new Benaroya Hall, the Bell Street Pier, the new Mariner's Stadium, and the Experience Music Project museum, the face of Seattle is quickly changing. And these new developments have brought some unique and exciting new architectural designs and trends to the area.

Frank Gehry's model of the Jimi Hendrix Museum
And, as is usually the case in the world of design, we've tried to balance issues of aesthetics with issues of business and market trends. In Design '96, you'll see some of today's design concepts and ideas, and you'll also read about what tomorrow's design market may look like. Will the strong hotel market continue? Is ``green'' designing finally being accepted into the mainstream? How is technology affecting the design process? There's even a story on how to build a high-tech library entirely out of glass.

And, our annual DJC Design survey again polls several of the area's architectural and engineering firms to find out what they've been up to over the past year. If you're interested in learning more about a particular firm, or want to get a feel for how the coming year will treat the design industry, this is the place to look.

We hope you'll enjoy this special publication put out by the DJC. Clair Enlow, our A & E editor, spent a great deal of time putting this together, and we hope we've created a publication that our readers will find interesting and illuminating.

- Jeff Running, DJC Online editor

DESIGN '96 SURVEY
Hear what some of the top design firms in the area have to say about today's design market, some of their most interesting projects and what trends they see in the industry in the coming years.

AIA AWARDS FOR WASHINGTON
A distinguished jury has selected ten recent projects by Washington architects for design excellence, announced at the AIA Seattle 1996 Awards for Washington Architecture presentation on October 28 at Meany Theater on the University of Washington Campus.

THE LIBRARY OF THE FUTURE?
All over the world governments, institutions and citizens are having to rethink the role of library buildings in this age of information. The traditional role of the library as a place to store and read books no longer covers the larger responsibility of libraries to collect and make available to users a range of information currently published, recorded and produced in diverse new media.

HOTEL DEVELOPMENT INTENSE -- BUT HIGHLY COMPETITIVE
Nordstrom's renovation of the old Frederick and Nelson building has galvanized the revitalization the retail core. Key cultural institutions -- including the ACT and the Seattle Symphony -- are moving downtown. Waterfront development opportunities have been spurred by the Bell Street Pier project. It's a heady mix of development, and it should be no surprise that hotel projects are part of it. What might be surprising to some is the intensity of hotel development Seattle is currently experiencing.

HELPING GROWING CONGREGATIONS `COUNT THE COST'
Trinity Life Center in Sacramento, Calif. already had a design for its new 2,400-seat sanctuary. But there was one problem: the lowest bid was approximately twice the amount of the established budget.

RESTRUCTURING A PROUD BUILDING
The recent opening of Kreielsheimer Place by A Contemporary Theater combined the excitement of a new facility and an important Seattle landmark rescued and restored.

BUILDING WITH TOMORROW'S RESOURCES: THE WHYS AND HOWS OF BECOMING GREEN
The words "sustainable," "environmentally responsible," "green," "eco-friendly" are often used interchangeably. They describe an approach to design and construction that is intended to conserve resources, protect the environment that supports us and provide healthful living and working spaces. The words are not new, but their application in practice is way overdue.

LAYING DOWN THE LANES OF THE INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY
Local engineers are busy retrofitting both the "access ramps" and the "roadway" that will give end users easy access to the Information Superhighway.

HARBOR STEPS HELPS COMPLETE A CITY
Harbor Steps has been the dream of Stimson Bullitt and Harbor Development for over two decades. And now, it's nearly a reality.

EXPANDING JAILS, LIMITED BUDGETS CALL FOR NEW DESIGNS
As public safety becomes a greater issue everywhere, detention and correction facilities have a become a greater part of the design and construction industry.

PARTNERING WITH ACADEMIA: REAL WORLD PROJECTS FOR STUDENTS
Did what you learned in college apply to what you were expected to do in your job? If so, you are the exception rather then the rule. How can industry and academia collaborate to make the curriculum better reflect what industry needs in its future work force?

UNCONVENTIONAL GROWTH IN THE CONVENTION INDUSTRY
Convention centers emerged in cities as a new building type as little as 25 years ago. Before that, they were accommodated almost exclusively in hotels and nondescript buildings offering little more than exhibition area. So how did the convention center industry, and the buildings it uses, so quickly become one of the most prominent areas of civic investment?

TODAY'S AIRPORTS SERVE PEOPLE -- AND THE BOTTOM LINE
Airports, like other enterprises and corporations, are increasingly driven by the bottom line. They are sources of revenue for their owner-operators, and their success is measured by the extent to which they generate revenue -- not necessarily by how convenient they are for the public, or how well they accommodate their tenants' operations.

EARTHQUAKE PREPAREDENESS: HOW DOES YOUR OFFICE STACK UP?
Over the past ten years, seismic activity on the west coast has caused over $17 billion in property damage. The lessons from these disasters have forced many to re-examine the performance criteria for their buildings.

EDUCATION AND TECHNOLOGY: DESIGNING FOR BRAVE NEW WORLD
Changing technologies are creating new opportunities for connecting students and instructors across geographic boundaries, for enhancing the learning experience, and for bringing new sources of revenue.

ON GETTING `STREETWISE' WITH CURBS AND CROSSINGS
David Engwicht, author of Reclaiming our Cities and Towns: Better Living with Less Traffic, wrote that "the role of transport is to maximize exchange." As a community, we can think of this in the broad sense: that roads and circulation should bring people together. From a planning and design perspective, we may have lost direction on this issue.

RETAIL RETURNS TO THE VILLAGE
Whether its part of an upscale urban neighborhood, and ethnic community or a new suburb, "community-based retail" is the key to the village of the future.

PERFORMANCE CONTRACTING DELIVERS ON PROMISES
"Operational reality versus operational theory" is how Tim Heidlebaugh of Central Washington Hospital in Wenatchee describes the difference between the recently completed central plant upgrade project at his hospital and other projects in which he has been involved.

GOODBYE BORING BARRACKS: DESIGNING FOR `QUALITY OF LIFE'
Architects designing military buildings today are helping to realize big changes in the government's approach to planning, designing and constructing facilities.

ENGINEERS GO UNDERWATER FOR BRIDGE INSPECTION
Engineering can be a dangerous profession. The designer's computer could crash in the middle of an important calculation. The businesswoman can discover a run in her stocking after a make-it-or-break-it presentation. Or, the president and owner of the firm can be chased underwater by 1,000 pound male sea lions.

NEW LIFE FOR SPEC OFFICE MARKET
Optimism fueled by economic growth, pent-up demand and the growing availability of capital in the Puget Sound region has created a resurgence in speculative development and an increase in build-to-suit opportunities.