June 7, 2017

Pacific Architect & Builder building: 1960 structure could be a landmark

Photo by Andrew Phillips [enlarge]

It was one of the first buildings here to use a thin-shell folded concrete plate roof. W.G. Clark Construction plans to move its headquarters there.

Seattle's Landmarks Preservation Board today will consider nominating as a city landmark the Pacific Architect & Builder building, which a local group calls a fine example of Modern-style architecture.

The building is at 1945 Yale Place E. in the Eastlake neighborhood.

The 3:30 p.m. meeting will be in Boards and Commissions Room L2-80 of City Hall at 600 Fourth Ave.

The 1960 building and an adjacent 6,920-square-foot vacant parcel were purchased in 2015 by a limited liability company whose governor is Kevin Pantzar, CFO of W.G. Clark Construction Co. The sale price was $6 million.

Before year's end, W.G. Clark plans to relocate its headquarters to the Eastlake building, a company spokesman said. Tenant improvements for the 30-person staff will include a voluntary seismic retrofit, and surface parking on the parcel. CB Anderson Architects designed the TIs and W.G. Clark is the contractor.

The firm is moving from 408 Aurora Ave. N. in Seattle, its home for 94 years. Metropolitan Companies is developing apartments on the Aurora site for the W.G. Clark family, which no longer owns the construction company.

The landmark application for the 14,192-square-foot building was submitted by Andrew Phillips of DOCOMOMO.WEWA. The nonprofit advocates for preservation of post-war Modern-era properties.

Phillips, a preservation architect with SMR Architects, was assisted by Susan Boyle and Tyler Sprague, who are also with the preservation group.

Phillips said the three-story building has been on his organization's radar. He said he has no knowledge of demolition plans, but the group likes to be proactive.

“I don't want it to go away,” he said. “In the end, it will be up to the landmarks board.”

The landmark application is at http://tiny.cc/xoyjly under “Current Nominations.” It calls the office building an intact example of Modern-style architecture in postwar Seattle, and an exemplary work by A.O. Bumgardner and the structural engineering firm Worthington, Skilling, Helle, and Jackson, now Magnusson Klemencic Associates.

It was constructed for Printer's Building and Equipment Co., which printed Pacific Architect & Builder magazine, published by Pacific Builder & Engineer. Historic Seattle's newsletter says that the publication promoted Modern architecture in the Northwest during a pivotal economic era around the 1962 World's Fair.

Pacific Architect & Builder was one of the first buildings locally to use a thin-shell folded concrete plate roof, which frees the main floor of structural columns or bearing walls.

“What made that construction special was the ability to open those walls and let a lot of light into the top floor, which is the office floor,” Phillips said.

He said the design also was a great solution for the sloped site, with the entrance on the top floor and printing space, parking and storage below.

The thin-shell envelope design was developed by Bumgardner and Albert Dreyer, along with Worthington, Skilling, Helle, and Jackson, which went on to specialize in that type of construction. The original structural drawings were signed by Jack Christiansen, who became an expert in thin-shell concrete, the application notes.

The engineering firm worked on the Pacific Science Center and IBM Building in Seattle, and the original World Trade Center in New York.

A.O. Bumgardner and his firm received Seattle AIA Honor Awards regularly from 1954 to 1975, with notable early work including the Graham House, the application notes. His practice became Bumgardner Partnership (with Dreyer and David Wright) in 1967, with projects that included the South Campus Center at the UW.

Current partner Mark Simpson joined the firm in the 1970s, and other influential architects worked under Bumgardner, including David Hoedemaker, David Fukui and David Hewitt.

During the 1980s, what is now Bumgardner Architects designed urban mixed-use projects, including Market Place North.

The Pacific Architect & Builder building was at one time owned by United Indians of All Tribes Foundation and by WCI Communications.