design '98

Edited by Clair Enlow
Journal A/E editor

The design industry has enjoyed another productive and exciting year. While landmark projects like Benaroya Hall, Pacific Place and the refurbished Expeditors International building were completed, work continues on soon-to-be landmarks like the new Northwest Baseball Stadium and the Jimi Hendrix Museum.

Hall of Still Thoughts

Hall of Still Thoughts, designed by NBBJ.

This year's special section looks at a variety of issues that the architecture and engineering industries are faced with today. Working from the inside out, you can read about color and lighting issues and the roles they play in the design of interior spaces, as well as a story detailing helpful hints on revamping your office space.

Been wondering about recent changes to seismic stability codes? You can learn more about the new earthquake guidelines in a story by engineer John Hooper.. And on the geotechnic front, Dan Mageau writes about an innovative technique used to prevent water and mud flows.

And on the less conventional front, Michelle Quesada writes about designing structures built with straw bales, and Doug Dixon talks about the engineering challenges related to naval architecture.

And of course, there's the 1998 Architecture and Engineering Perspectives survey that poles over 40 of the area's architecture and engineering firms to give you an insightful look to the firms themselves and the industry as a whole. You can also see some of these firms' work in a short expose on local projects awarded for design excellence in Regional design award winners.

We hope that this year's A&E Perspectives will be an informative and entertaining look into the Northwest design industry.

A&E Perspectives: 1998 Firm Survey
The 1998 Architecture and Engineering Perspectives survey shows many areas of increased opportunity for design firms. Hiring and growth has now continued for a third straight year. Although most respondents believe the economy has reached a peak, they look forward to working at a steady pace in 1999.

New linear lighting brightens work space
Have you ever wondered why newer buildings feel more techno-friendly than workspaces constructed 20 years ago? A major part of the answer lies in lighting, which has evolved dramatically over the past several decades -- both in response to needs of information workers and to take advantage of innovative lighting technology.

Soil freezing technology is gaining ground
Water -- and mud -- flow downhill. This fact of nature can be an enormous problem in managing excavation and tunnelling projects.

Commuter rail to leave the station next year
Since voters approved funding for Sound Transit's ten-year plan Sound Move in 1996, design for a regional transportation system has come a long way. And there is a long way yet to go. But by the end of next year, commuter rail will be leaving the station.

A look at the new earthquake guidelines
A just-adopted version of the Uniform Building Code (UBC) will have a significant impact on the design and construction of buildings in the Seattle area and throughout the West Coast.

Regional design awards
This year's AIA Northwest and Pacific Region design awards recognize range of responses to specific locations and client needs.

Help for the color disassociated
There is a Renaissance of exterior color in architecture. This is due, in part, to the design investigations of many contemporary architects, but it is also a reaction to the achromatic palettes we've accepted and lived with for decades. People are begging for color!

Removing the barriers to bales
Straw bale houses offer extremely high insulation value, and tests have shown that properly constructed straw-bale walls withstand fire and earthquakes very well.

Follow the usual rules -- and many more when your site is on the waves
Imagine you were designing Columbia Seafirst Center, but you had to make it self contained -- making its own electricity, freshwater and treating its own sewage. Now imagine laying the building on its side and adding engines to make it move while trying to keep it from rolling and vibrating from the force equivalent to a continuous earthquake. When you are finished with the design, you get to do a second set of calculations to move it from land and launch it in water. That's what naval architecture is all about.

Designing for non-profit enterprise: Richard Hugo House and Habitat Espresso
Each commercial client brings his or her self interest and a range of personal motives to a design project. Although usually unstated, the architect's secondary client is the community -- the city and the public.

Evaluating alternative procurement options
New pressures on the U.S. water and wastewater industry have challenged municipalities to explore new avenues to improve their efficiency and effectiveness.

Office design: You don't have to know the future to go there
If you're like many of the companies we work with, you know your office needs to change -- you just can't see exactly how. Or how much, or when, or to what. As much as companies spend on facilities, wouldn't it make sense if space could be test driven?

Keeping dust down during healthcare construction
Most healthcare facilities are ongoing construction sites these days, with constant repairs, renovations and additions as hospitals respond to innovations in technology. So there's no harm in a little construction dust floating around, right?

Wrong.

Some firms aren't sold on growth
Architectural firms don't automatically expand during boom times for one simple reason. Architects would rather design buildings than corporate management structures.

Make sure 'fringe' buildings stay part of the community
Seattle is full of great old buildings, some even important enough to be city, state or national landmarks. These buildings have special architectural merit, social and political history or exquisite qualities that speak of the past. But what about fringe buildings? The ones that aren't eligible for official landmark status because of they are just not old enough or important enough as examples of design, or the ones with owners that simply lack interest in turning them into landmarks?