Everett Arena

Like other design firms weathering the economic storm, LMN is experiencing a slowdown in private-sector work. Higher-education work, one of its primary areas, is also in a temporary freeze as Washington state tries to cope with an expected $1 billion budget gap next year.

One private-sector project has been put on hold and about four higher-education projects have stalled, partner Mark Reddington says. The firm recently had “a small layoff,” but overall, has been able to remain intact.

“Currently, we’re fully occupied and doing all right,” he says. The real questions about profitability will start to emerge after the first of next year when the impacts of the downturn will be better understood, he says.

Despite the troubled political and economic climate, some design work for LMN is keeping strong and may emerge as new markets, according to Reddington.

“We are still doing a number of theater projects,” he says. “When things are so worrisome, audiences are really interested in coming together.”

He says the interest in such community gathering spaces — be they stadiums or symphony halls — stems from people’s need to find an “anchoring opportunity” in a difficult times.

Small cities might end up being a hot market, he says. The firm, for example, is working on a $12 million, 37,000-square-foot performing arts center in Yakima and is working on another project in Baton Rouge, La. Public-assembly projects in such cities could become popular as travel-wary people choose to entertain themselves closer to home, he says.

In addition to the uncertainty around private-sector and higher-education projects, LMN’s convention center work is a little bit tenuous, he says. As the demand for business travel drops, owners have either scaled back or canceled projects, he says.

LMN is a designing an unusual project this year — a 54-bell tower near Olympia. Called a carillon, the musical bell tower could rise to more than 100 feet. It will be built on top of a hill in a park overlooking the state Capitol Building. A private foundation is raising funds for the project.

The firm has a number of high-profile projects under way. The Marion Oliver McCaw Hall in Seattle and the new Seattle Central Library are two of its largest.

The McCaw Hall involves a major renovation of the Seattle Opera House. With a construction cost of $87.5 million, the project will provide revamped space for the Pacific Northwest Ballet and the Seattle Opera.

Design for Seattle’s new $159 million central library is being led by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas. LMN is the associate architect for the library, which will replace the existing one in downtown Seattle.

Another project in the pipeline is the $48 million, 54,000-square-foot hockey and concert space in Everett. LMN teamed up with PCL Construction and PBK Architects to win the design-build competition for the project.