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April 7, 2014

Westlake Center gets facelift and new space for Zara store

By LYNN PORTER
Journal Staff Reporter

Photos courtesy of Callison [enlarge]
The 26-year-old mall has a cleaner, modern look.

Renovation of the 26-year-old Westlake Center mall in Seattle has given it a new look and added about 10,000 square feet of leasable space.

Work on the mall at 400 Pine St. was completed last fall.

The facade has a cleaner, modern look and a new entry. New ceiling and light fixtures are in the entrance concourse and a canopy with a coffered ceiling now covers the long dining terrace that overlooks Westlake Park.

“We gave a whole facelift to Westlake Center,” said Bret Wiggins, design principal at the Seattle-based architecture and design firm Callison.

Callison did the schematic design, design development, construction documents and design administration for the renovation, which included the shell of a new 30,000-square-foot store for Zara, a Spanish clothing chain, which opened in February.

The four-level mall now has about 118,000 square feet of leasable space.

The renovation was done in anticipation of Zara's opening. This is the first Seattle location for the mid-market seller of clothing with a European contemporary look.

Zara's two-level space was created by enclosing what had been a two-story vaulted colonnade at the front of the mall, adding a second floor where the atrium had been and taking part of the common area.

Zara’s two-level space was created by enclosing the colonnade and adding a second floor where the atrium had been.

Wiggins was the lead designer and Gabriel Reed, also of Callison, was the project architect for the renovation. Bayley Construction was the contractor.

The team also included KPFF Consulting Engineers, structural; Prime Electric, electrical; MacDonald-Miller, mechanical and plumbing; and LightWire, lighting.

Westlake Center is owned by General Growth Properties, a real estate investment trust that owns, manages and leases malls in the United States.

Wiggins said the renovation provides clean and modern architecture in the epicenter of downtown.

Some of the 1980s ornamentation was stripped from the facade, and contemporary metal panels and a two-story glass curtain wall were added. A skylight at the front was reduced.

Most construction was done at night and shrouded from view, Wiggins said.

“It was a structural gymnastics that had to go on inside the atrium,” he said.

Steel beams were added for the new flooring and to the curtain wall.

The top of the main glass elevator in the entrance was shaved off to accommodate the new second-floor space for Zara, and the food court seating area was expanded by about 3,500 square feet.


 


Lynn Porter can be reached by email or by phone at (206) 622-8272.




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