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January 26, 2009
Center will celebrate Tribal culture and tradition
A 22,000-square foot Elder Center for the Puyallup Tribe of Indians is under construction. The $10 million tribally-funded project is scheduled for completion by July 2009. ARC Architects of Seattle designed the building to celebrate the Puyallup culture and tradition. BN Builders is the general contractor and KPFF Consulting Engineers is the civil and structural engineer.
The center is being built near the Puyallup Tribal Health Authority and Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, on a site that previously housed a parking lot. The center will have views of the Puget Sound and Olympic mountain range, and is designed with spaces for Puyallup Elders to learn, interact and relax. The center includes indoor and outdoor activity spaces, centrally located administrative offices, a banquet room for 200 and a library. It also has a health and wellness center with a traditional healing room, a fitness center, consultation and massage areas, a hydrotherapy pool, spa, sauna and steam rooms.
The design was developed with the Tribe's Elders Advisory Committee and departmental staff. The center will have a 12,000-square-foot green roof, designed to reflect the tribe's respect for the environment and cultural connection with the Puget Sound. The sloped roof will have a variety of sedum plantings and is designed after traditional basket weaving patterns.
The landscaping includes a “Spirit Garden” on the building's south face with native trees, plants and a water feature. This outdoor space can be used for relaxation, social gathering and salmon bakes. Large overhangs supported with peeled cedar lodge poles protect the south facade from solar heat gain in the summer and provide an outside covered area for traditional wood carving.
The East/West orientation of the building and its mass buffers the outdoor spaces from the noise of Interstate-5 to the North. Roofs are also staggered to increase daylighting from north-facing clerestory windows. Visitors arrive at the center through a low solid cedar wall with doors glazed in a chevron pattern, an entry inspired by traditional longhouses. Inside, a long entry area called the ‘Hall of Elders' will have art-filled display cabinets and a wood-slatted ceiling to a brightly lit terminus. The hall is day-lit by clerestory windows screened with a suspended wooden slat ceiling that is designed to create a dappling effect similar to a forest canopy. The Greenbusch Group is mechanical engineer, Cierra Electrical Group is electrical engineer, Parametrix is geotechnical engineer, Nakano Associates is landscape architect and BRC Acoustics is acoustical engineer. McKinstry was commissioning agent on mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems.