Look inside Madison Centre, Downtown’s newest office tower

The brand-new high-rise at Fifth Avenue and Marion Street has been in the works for quite some time. Originally planned during the 2000s, the project was scrapped during the recession, then revived by Schnitzer West five years ago.

Finally, though, after more than a decade in the works, tenants started moving into the NBBJ-designed tower last week. Which means that the building’s many amenities with interiors designed by San Francisco’s Bamo are finally getting put to use, too.

That includes a massive rotunda just up from the building’s entry, with a fireside lounge and a custom lighting fixture by Lasvit. While the building is an ultra-modern glass tower from the outside, this space’s design cuts through the sleek exterior with exposed-wood slats, which can be adjusted for ideal sunlight.

The granite from the fireplace and its towering pillar was selected from remnants from a Minnesota quarry. A green wall designed by local company Botanical Designs features 5,000 plants and a Juliet balcony looking down from a conference room.

This lodge-like take on the luxury office tower continues into other common spaces, including a common work and lounge area off the lobby. A cafeteria will be shared between tenants. A library, named for NBBJ’s late Chris Appleford, gives space for quiet time.

For those that need more privacy along with their quiet, smaller rooms are available by reservation.

A boardroom is one of the many shared conference areas of the building. Other conference rooms share adjustable space so they can be tailored according to need.

A rooftop deck features 15-foot glass walls to shield the space from the wind, plus lounging and green space.

Other amenities include a fitness center run by Washington Athletic Club, with a sleek wood-paneled locker room and wellness rooms to the side. The elevators, Puget Sound Business Journal reports, are also notable: Moving 1,200 feet per minute, they can carry a guest from the ground floor to the roof in 24 seconds or so.

Analytics company EY Society is the first tenant to move in, with one and a half floors of the building. Eventually, other tenants will include law firm Davis Wright Tremaine, with eight floors, and job-posting feedback startup Textio on one floor.

• First look: Madison Centre, Seattle's opulent new office tower [PSBJ]
• Madison Centre [NBBJ]