Sacred Heart Hospital additions, Spokane

The $31.5 million Seminar II building at Evergreen State College designed by Mahlum Architects is on hold, a victim of the state’s moratorium on campus construction.

Though Mahlum’s work on the project is mostly done, Bill Strong, director of marketing and a principal at the firm, says he’d like to see it get built.

Designed to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards, the building promises to be a unique one with multiple sustainable features.

But other than that relatively minor setback, Strong says that Mahlum is busy.

“Right now it has not slowed,” he says. But he warns, “Anybody who tells you they’re not proceeding with caution is lying to you.”

Mahlum’s largest current project is for two additions to Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane. The west wing addition and the children’s hospital addition represent a $100 million expansion for the hospital high on a hill overlooking the city.

The firm also did the historically sensitive design for the new $8.6 million Coe Elementary School on Queen Anne Hill. That project is currently under construction.

Despite the current economic uncertainty, Mahlum, with 100 employees in offices in Seattle and Portland, is looking to expand regionally into other markets.

“We would like to look at some of our (practice) areas in a wider geographic location,” says Strong. “We’ve done some senior housing before, and we’d like to do more.”

Overall, Strong says that things will get better.

“We do believe that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Whether Seattle is a little bit behind (the rest of the country), we’ll see.”