March 27, 2025

Telling a story through pattern: West Main’s approach to facade design

Krech

Architectural Glazing has long been an important expressive tool which, when selected and detailed thoughtfully, can contribute to the successful transformation of architectural concepts to reality. A growing number of glass treatments have expanded aesthetic options in addition to the added performance modern insulated glazing offers.

Beyond the basics of color, tint, and reflectance, designers can further tune glazing systems through additive films, frits and printed media to give the material an added dimension. The result is a high degree of variability of color and pattern, consistent quality control and long-term product stability. In recent years, our practice, Graphite Design Group, has explored digital printing technology across a range of projects. Most Recently, we used this technique on West Main in Bellevue.

Image by Benjamin Benschneider [enlarge]

Each of West Main’s three towers adopts a subtly different window pattern that modulates across the facades, tied together with an overall flow gesture.

West Main is a three-tower 1,030,000-square-foot office and retail development recently completed downtown designed by a collaboration between Graphite Design Group and Compton Design Office. Long viewed as a suburban companion to Seattle to the west, Bellevue has come into its own as a vibrant, diverse community that is home to numerous global technology companies. Developed by Vulcan Real Estate and occupied by Amazon, West Main is a key project in Bellevue’s downtown evolution, as it blends high-tech, high-performance office space with community-focused design features that help tell the story of this place once home to forests, farms, and fruit orchards. Thoughtful use of color and digitally printed glazing helps tell this story.

During early design investigation, it was learned that the site of West Main was once home to a small stream — Meydenbauer Creek — that traversed the hillside site as it meandered to its final outlet on nearby Lake Washington. From this the architectural concept of “flow” was derived and is manifest in the project at numerous scales.

Image courtesy of Graphite Design Group [enlarge]

Graphic mock-ups of digital print patterns used at each of West Main’s Towers.

Each of the three towers that comprise the project adopts a subtly different window pattern that modulates across the facades, tied together with an overall flow gesture that legibly traces its way around all the outward facing tower elevations. Tower 1, known as “push-pull,” employs a gridded mullion system with 10 different panel types, creating depth across the facade. Tower 2, labeled “Weave,” incorporates curved aluminum fins that project from the building, evoking a woven texture. Tower 3, called “Tuft,” uses cruciform-shaped mullions that gradually taper in depth from the center outward.

Color plays a critical role in the facade design of West Main. Each tower is anchored by a full-height mosaic wall composed of over 60,000 individual stainless steel tiles, with color schemes inspired by natural elements. Tower 1 features shades of blue, Tower 2 is adorned in red hues, and Tower 3 is wrapped in green tones.

At the podium level, the use of digitally printed glass continues this narrative. The street-facing facades on levels 1 and 2 are covered with large-scale graphic patterns, each unique to its respective tower. These patterns resemble a halftone image, where individual dots merge into a cohesive flow when viewed from a distance. The design team drew inspiration from the modulation of the curtain wall above, using geometric shapes that echo the natural patterns found in the landscape.

Image by Graphite Design Group & Compton Design Office [enlarge]

Left: Design drawing of bridge element with printed glass concept. Right: View from bridge interior.

The printed patterns are carefully aligned with the color palette of each tower — blue, red, and green— creating a visual connection between the upper and lower sections of the buildings. At the main entry, a bridge links two of the towers, introducing a fourth color: orange. This addition emphasizes the area of arrival and connection, serving as a visual focal point that guides visitors into the campus.

The use of digital printing on glass offers several advantages over traditional silkscreen methods, especially in projects like West Main where custom patterns are integral to the design narrative. Unlike silkscreen frit, which typically involves repeated patterns and limited color options, digital printing allows for virtually any image or pattern to be applied directly to the glass surface. This process uses large-format printers to apply color, which is then baked onto the glass, ensuring durability and stability over time.

For West Main, digital printing enabled the design team to achieve a high degree of variation and complexity in the facade patterns. Each glass panel could be customized, allowing the flow pattern to evolve across the entire facade without repetition. The result is a dynamic, ever-changing surface that responds to the play of light and shadow throughout the day, much like the natural movement of water.

The facade design of West Main demonstrates the potential of digital printing technology to go beyond mere aesthetics. By embracing the flexibility of digitally printed glass, Graphite was able to create a facade that tells a story — one that connects the modern campus to the natural and historical context of the site. The patterns of flow, color, and form serve as a visual narrative, linking the project to Bellevue’s geographical history and creating a sense of place that resonates with the community.

Peter Krech is a founding principal of Seattle-based Graphite Design Group.

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