Bassetti

Principals: Lorne McConachie, Marilyn Brockman, Rick Huxley
Specialty: Academic architecture, civic and cultural architecture, historic preservation
Year founded: 1947
2000 revenue: $6.5 million
Projected 2001 revenue: $6.2 million
Largest current projects: Seattle City Hall (with Bohlin Cywinski Jackson), West Seattle High School

West Seattle High School
West Seattle High School

Bassetti Architecture expects to see a small drop in revenue this year, but business has been pretty stable, said Principal Marilyn Brockman.

The firm, which specializes in public projects, has been insulated so far from the region’s economic slump, made worse by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"The budgets (for government projects) have already been approved," Brockman said. On the other hand, Brockman said she expects that project timelines for nonprofits are likely to get stretched out due to fundraising slowdowns.

Public projects make up almost 90 percent of Bassetti’s work, Brockman said, and the firm has no plans to tinker with the formula. "We do public work extremely well and we have good relationships with public agencies," she said. "We’re extremely well-suited for that market."

Bassetti is neck-deep in its highest-profile project at the moment -- Seattle’s new City Hall, which it’s designing with Bohlin Cywinski Jackson architects.

Other major current projects include renovations at West Seattle High School and Stadium High School in Tacoma, on which it's working with Merritt+Pardini architects.

Bassetti’s primary markets are Seattle and Tacoma, though the firm is seeking to build a national reputation for its K-12 school work. Otherwise, the firm is not looking to expand into new geographical markets, Brockman said.

Staffing levels at Bassetti have remained even at around 42 employees. "We’ve been creeping up," Brockman said. "We really haven’t been at less than 35 since ’95."

Brockman has observed that planning a public building takes more time now that it used to. "There’s a far more active interest in the community about their public buildings," she said. "Now, there’s far more process and more public presentations," she said.

Bassetti has changed with the times by becoming more responsive to public feedback. "We’ve upped our ideas of listening," Brockman said. "People are more interested in what buildings look like. They want to visit them and they want them to look nice."



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