Seattle BMW

Location:Seattle

Owner/developer: Lithia Motors

Project team: Foushee and Associates, general and concrete contractor; Ned Nelson Architects; Shutter Consulting Engineers, structural engineer; Cadman, ready-mix supplier

BMW Seattle, a two-block redevelopment located just east of Qwest Field, is the largest auto dealership in the state. The complex comprises a 254,000-square-foot service building and a 50,000-square-foot sales center.

The four-story service building houses 480 parking stalls for new car inventory, customer service and employees. It also includes 66 service bays, customer write-up areas, a customer lounge, technician offices, car wash and detailing areas.

The building has concrete tilt-up walls as well as poured-in-place shear walls. Columns, too, are poured-in-place concrete.

The floors are post-tensioned concrete. A combination of short-span flat plate and long-span beams are used in the building’s column-free areas.

The two-story sales center houses a showroom, customer lounge and business offices. The walls are concrete tilt-up, selected because they are faster to build than conventional wall systems and provide a functional and durable design.

The project earned a LEED silver certification.