King St. Station, Bullitt Center Among AIA Northwest Award Winners

The American Institute of Architects Northwest and Pacific Region recently announced the thirteen award winners for the best architecture projects of the past year and several Seattle buildings are among them. Whittled down from 123 entries, the four architect jury chose the winners, which included homes, schools, office buildings, transportation hubs and even manufacturing plants. Let's take a look at the local winners and find out what made them so special...

Photo: Tom Wright

King Street Station - Jury Recognition Award

"This special award is presented for the restoration of Seattle's King Street Station which resulted in a historic building receiving LEED platinum certification. The jury recognizes the difficulty of restoring a building of this quality and the outstanding preservation effort to give renewed life to this important civic landmark." The architects did an excellent job of restoring the building to its previous elegance through strict attention to details and material selection. Great credit goes to all the craftspeople involved in restoring this magnificent structure."

Bullitt Center - Jury Recognition Award

The Bullitt Center Building in Seattle is singled out for this special recognition for its demonstration as an early leader in reaching the 2030 challenge. The jury found this project to be overtly sustainably designed and environmentally responsive. This project represents how collaborations between multiple agencies, contractors, suppliers and consultants led by an inspired team of architects can create an exceptional building that serves as a national case study for architects throughout the country.

UW's West Campus Student Housing: Phase 1 - Citation Award

This is an excellent example of how large higher education buildings can revitalize a community through the development of a clear parti that addresses urban and individual needs. The four city block mixed use buildings enliven the street with commercial and public space on the ground floor with semi private and housing on the upper floors. The architects were diligent in recognizing the natural flows of the pedestrians and utilizing those flows to inform the organization of the buildings and open spaces on the sites. The exterior spaces and facades are very well proportioned and the treatment at the street level is beautiful. The building materials and window placements provide sophistication and dignity to the living units.

Washougal Incubator Block - Citation Award

This building embodies the idea of relating to an existing context without resorting to mimicry and predictable iconography. The architects have successfully placed a new building within a historic center of the town of Washougal WA by developing a contemporary civic expression juxtaposed with a specific programmatic expression relating to the occupants. The brick exterior with its thoughtful proportions presents a street façade that integrates with the existing fabric. The interior of the building serves as a "reflector" of light with white painted walls that reveal themselves in subtle lines and surface on the exterior street façade. The architect has cleverly expressed this dualistic condition in a beautifully composed and honest façade.