This content was delivered as a spoken presentation at the Northwest EcoBuilding Guild Sustainability Slam at Town Hall Seattle in October of 2024.
Hello, I’m Brittany Porter, Senior Associate at Weber Thompson and the Senior Project Architect of Northlake Commons.
Northlake Commons was recently completed in the beginning of 2024 and has been the highlight of my career to date and my singular focus for the past five years of said career. So, I’m happy to share with you how I think of the project now that it stands on its own.
I want to begin by saying this project is a market-rate, core and shell office building. It did not have an unlimited budget and in fact, it was largely designed during 2020 and the whole team knew the building would come to market with considerable leasing challenges given the changes we have all seen to the demand for office space.
The Ownership team set out to create a legacy project, but it still had to pencil, and it had to rise above the rest. Differentiation from other workplaces was always a driver. These project goals resulted in Northlake Commons as we see here. It is a LEED Platinum, mass timber, mixed-use, lab-ready office building on the north end of Lake Union.
This large site is fortunate to have many valuable placemaking site relationships to respond to— The popular Burke-Gilman Trail bookends it to the north and the lake to the south.
Situated in an industrial zone, there was also the challenge of responding to the program need of a working warehouse on site for Dunn Lumber. This project is a partnership between developers Hess Callahan Grey Group, Spear Street Capital, and landowners the Dunn Lumber Family. Which has been operating from their adjacent headquarters building since the 1930s.
The goal was to be a bridge between the residential zones and trail activity to the north and to the water to the south. All while accommodating trucking through the site. This led to the building massing, as you can see here. With two main wings that pull apart to allow public circulation from north and south while safely keeping the warehouse activity below this new pedestrian bridge.
At the north end of the site, the building form angles open to create a welcoming entry sequence that announces the site's porosity.
Through a partnership with the Seattle Parks Department, this project created a park on the formerly underutilized land that existed between the trail and the north property line. It has historically been uncommon for the Parks Department to consider collaborating with private developers in this way, but we see this park as a successful example of the public benefit and connectivity that is possible through collaborations like this.
As you enter the plaza, you are greeted by a bridge. The tops of evergreen trees curiously peak out from the floor line. As you get closer, the bridge spans over a sunken garden planted with ferns and other native plantings. This is my favorite moment to experience on the project. It piques curiosity and encourages exploration. This sense of discovery is one of the patterns of biophilic design foundationally woven throughout Northlake Commons.
Biophilia is the idea that humans have a natural tendency to connect with other living things in the natural world. Being in biophilic spaces has proven benefits for mental well-being. They can make us more resilient to stress, improve our sleep quality, and enhance creativity and problem-solving.
Creating a space that amplifies connection to nature harmonized with the project's goals of bringing something of unique value to the workplace market.
Mass timber was at the heart of the project from the beginning. The design concept was inspired by the Pacific Northwest forests and the long history of woodcraft established by this maritime waterfront.
The building's form is inspired by mortise and tenon joinery, which is used in furniture and boat-making to create strong connections. The open-air bridges, or Connectors as well call them, above the courtyard - serve to stitch together the two carved halves of the building.
The building's stories mimic the layers of a forest which are the forest floor, the understory and the canopy. The forest floor is represented by lush plantings at grade and in the sunken garden, the understory by a forest of tree-like columns, and the overhead Connectors represent the canopy.
The biophilic nature of the timber engages all of the senses, and the space feels a walk in the woods but in the heart of a city.
Using a mass timber structure not only brought the building biophilic benefits but also reduced the embodied carbon of the building by 55% compared to the concrete or steel structures that would be typical for this building type.
All the wood is regionally sourced and manufactured. Originating in the forests of British Columbia, it was then fabricated in Portland, Oregon. The Northwest's ability to supply mass timber at this scale is improving yearly. It is easy to imagine a near future with significantly more low-carbon mass timber structures like this one.
We worked with DCI Engineers, Swinerton Builders, Timberlab, and Kalesnikoff to bring this timber building to life.
On the interior, the forest of beams and columns are arranged to create two distinct neighborhoods of beam orientation. This use of the structural system to create spatial definition on an otherwise vast floor plate also allows the direction of the beams to respond to the large curtain wall facades.
Beams are oriented perpendicular to the glazing rather than running across it to maximize the floor-to-ceiling glass. Allowing daylight deeper into the floor plate and making sure the expansive views of the lake and city skyline shine.
The mass timber grid is also planned out for future mechanical systems with the use of “short bays”. Reducing the distance between the columns reduces the beam spans and, therefore, allows the depth of the beam to be much shallower. Future mechanical ducts are able to run under the shallow beams and then down the floor plate alongside the deeper girders, keeping the height of the space feeling grand and unobstructed.
With over 64,000 square feet of programmed outdoor spaces, Northlake Commons is creating a sense of place surrounded by nature.
Multi-story tall timber columns are shaped with chamfered corners to create a more organic shape and provide exciting shadow lines. A steel-free beam-to-column pocket connection provides construction and fabrication efficiencies and brings cost and carbon savings.
From its lapped fiber cement cladding, which references the cedar shingles of Northwest homes, to its unique wood detailing, there is always something new to investigate and observe.
As the final destination of the plaza, the south end deck is a place for gathering. Looking out over the lake, this terminus is all about the biophilic principles of prospect and refuge.
The south end of the site is within a shoreline environment overlay. To respect this project's adjacency to one of Seattle’s most significant waterways, the building form was pulled back, and a regional stormwater swale was built.
Water runoff from the Walllingford neighborhood to the north was previously carried in a storm main directly out to Lake Union. Now, it is diverted to our site and through a system of strategically placed plantings, soils, and gravel, cleaning 2.6 million gallons of stormwater annually and filtering out harmful pollutants that threaten migrating salmon populations.
The swale was created through a partnership with Seattle Public Utilities and has helped establish a pilot program that aims to encourage more of these large-scale stormwater solutions. Not only have we created a beautiful place that connects those around it to a natural system, but it is also an example of a straightforward, sustainable urban design approach that directly improves the local ecosystem.
In conclusion, Northlake Commons stands as a powerful example of how architecture can shape not just the built environment but also our relationship with nature, the community, and the city around us.
Through thoughtful design choices rooted in biophilia, sustainability, and performance, we’ve created a space that fosters both human well-being and environmental stewardship while meeting the ownership team’s goals for a successful market-rate project. With 40% of the building already leased, it’s clear that potential tenants see the value in the choices we made, validating the project’s ability to perform financially.
I hope Northlake Commons will inspire future developments to embrace these values as we continue to build toward a more connected, resilient future. Thank you.
