July 19, 2006

Design Detailings: TAM debuts Chihuly cell phone tour

Tacoma Art Museum has launched Washington’s first cell-phone walking tour, “Ear for Art: Chihuly Glass Cell Phone Walking Tour.” The tour covers Dale Chihuly’s artwork in Tacoma’s Museum District.

The Ear for Art tour may be heard any time, anywhere in the country, by calling (888) 411-4220. It has 12 audio stops that give cell-phone users a chance to hear narrators, including Chihuly, talk about the installations. The stops include the Tacoma Art Museum, Union Station, the Chihuly Bridge of Glass, the University of Washington Tacoma Library and The Swiss Pub.

Minneapolis-based Museum411 produced the tour.

Stellmacher joins Pike Place commission

Allyn Stellmacher, a design partner in Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership’s Seattle office, has been appointed by Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels to the Pike Place Market Historical Commission. The Seattle Chapter of the American Institute of Architects nominated Stellmacher for the commission.

The commission is a quasi-judicial body charged with preserving the historical character of the market. It oversees design and use of space in the market, in accordance with Historic Commission guidelines.

Krull of Sparling is LEED accredited

Kimberly Krull, a principal in Sparling’s Portland office, has been certified as LEED accredited. Krull has 15 years of electrical design experience in health care, medical office buildings, laboratory and clinic projects.

She has led electrical design for high-profile health care and biotech/research related projects throughout the Northwest. She recently made a presentation on dispatchable standby power generation for health care facilities at a OSHE conference in Bend, Ore.

Magazine gives local firms awards

Photo by Rick Keating

WJA Collaborative won for Green River Communtiy College’s Bleah Center for the Performing Arts and Kennelly Commons. In the K-12 category, winning school designs were Brighton Elementary School and Mount Tahoma High School, designed by BLRB Architects, and Kirkland Junior High School designed by Northwest Architectural Co. Central Washington University’s music education facility was featured in American School & University magazine’s 2005 Architectural Portfolio. It was designed by Studio Meng Strazzara.

Five Washington state education projects were recently featured in American School & University magazine’s annual showcase awards, the 2005 Architectural Portfolio.

Studio Meng Strazzara, BLRB Architects, WJA Design Collaborative and Northwest Architectural Co. won for outstanding designs for an educational facility. The projects were selected from 240 entries nationally.

Central Washington University’s new music education facility, designed by Studio Meng Strazzara, won in the university design category. It has a 600-seat concert hall, a 150-seat recital/lecture hall, a recording studio and related spaces designed to serve the music program.