Skilling Ward Magnusson Barkshire

While active on a national and international level, Skilling Ward Magnusson Barkshire’s primary focus has remained on the Puget Sound area this year. SWMB has been involved in the new Seattle Central Library, Pacific Northwest Aquarium, Seattle Federal Courthouse, Seattle Municipal Courthouse, and the new Washington State Football/Soccer Stadium. “Our roots go deep in this city,” said CEO Jon Magnusson.

Staff size remained fairly constant during the last 12 months at 120 employees (81 engineers), with the firm continuing to recruit new talent from the region's very tight labor pool. The construction value of the firm's projects grew from $1.5 billion to $1.7 billion, another record-setting year. Structural projects ranged from straightforward to complex and addressed a variety of uses: residential, high-tech labs, sports facilities, building preservation, office buildings, retail and many other specialized areas. Project examples include the renovation of a historic facility into the REI Denver Flagship store, Suwon Observation Tower in Korea, Minneapolis Convention Center Expansion, and the International Glass Museum in Tacoma.

“While business remains strong, some slowing in the latter part of 2001 is likely,” said Magnusson.

The civil side of the practice saw another year of tremendous growth in the number and type of projects. Drew Gangnes, SWMB’s director of civil engineering, cites an on-going rise in redevelopment projects all over the metropolitan area. In downtown Seattle, they include work in the South Lake Union area and on the new football/soccer stadium. Then there are outlying sites, like the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport south terminal expansion and the Bremerton Navy Hospital expansion. Significant this year are changes to the city’s stormwater code, which impact the majority of projects in Seattle, according to Gangnes.

Looking ahead at industry trends, Magnusson believes that the ground-breaking technology utilized on the Experience Music Project is the way of the future. “The current state of the architecture/engineering/construction process has very little continuity in design databases between those who create the design and those who build it. However, it is now within possibility to think, not dream, that an entire building can be built in virtual space by the design team.” While the concept could be advanced to the ultimate replacement of the two-dimensional drawing set with a three-dimensional virtual building, Magnusson believes the transition will take five to 10 years: “Design team acceptance will present more of an obstacle than available hardware and software.”