December 3, 2018

2 schools start building one complex that they'll share in South Seattle

Image by Graham Baba Architects [enlarge]

The new school will be in a three-story, 53,000-square-foot building that Giddens will share with Lake Washington Girls Middle School.

The Giddens School has started construction on its new building at 2101 22nd Ave. S. in South Seattle.

The private independent school, which serves students from preschool through fifth grade, said in an announcement that it has outgrown its current space in the Central District. It's now housed in a century-old building at 620 20th Ave. S. that is leased from the Archdiocese of Seattle.

The new school will be in a three-story, 53,000-square-foot building that Giddens will share with Lake Washington Girls Middle School. Students will share the lunchroom, gym, performance space and library. An enclosed play area is planned on the roof.

The cost will be around $30 million.

Giddens will have 12 classrooms, an early childhood and elementary playground, and a maker space for science, art and social studies. The elementary school serves around 240 students.

Another 110 students attend the middle school, which is for grades six through eight.

The complex will have a number of sustainable features, such as solar panels and a cistern that supplies water for all the toilets.

Graham Baba Architects is the architect. Anjali Grant Design is the collaborating architect, and Exxel Pacific is the general contractor. Costigan Integrated, a partner with Unico Properties, is the project manager.

The site is the former home of Imperial Lanes, a bowling alley that closed in 2015.

The full-block parcel was acquired for $6.5 million by an LLC in 2016, then split in two and sold off earlier this year.

The schools will be on the larger of the two parcels, which they acquired for $4.1 million in July. Financing was from Columbia Bank.

The smaller north parcel was sold at the same time for $2.4 million to Imperial Jazz LLLP, a partnership of JazzEd and Capitol Hill Housing. Together, those two nonprofit groups will build a music education performance space, as well as housing for low and middle-income families.

The elementary and middle schools are scheduled to open in January 2020.

The JazzEd and CHH project is slated to begin construction in fall 2020.

Other team members for the schools project include KPFF Consulting Engineers, civil/structural engineer; Ecotope, mechanical engineer; Rushing Co., electrical engineer; A3 Acoustics; JRS Engineering, building envelope; Emerald Aire , mechanical contractor; Holaday-Parks, plumbing contractor; and Dark Light Design, lighting design.