Olson Kundig

On September 24, four Olson Kundig projects were honored with 2020 AIA Northwest & Pacific Region design awards. Rio House (led by principal/owner Tom Kundig, FAIA, RIBA), The Burke Museum (led by principal/owner Tom Kundig, FAIA, RIBA), and ANOHA—The Children’s World of the Jewish Museum Berlin (led by principal/owner Alan Maskin) each received Honor Awards, while The Century Project at the Space Needle (led by principal/owner Alan Maskin) received a Merit Award. This annual awards program recognizes architectural design excellence in projects from firms located in the Northwest and Pacific Region.

Rio House creates a private retreat adjacent to the Tijuca National Park outside of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The 1,500 SF house is a rational steel-and-glass box supported by two concrete piers, one of which also functions as an indoor/outdoor fireplace. Sited in harmony with the wildness of its tropical jungle setting, Rio House rises into the rainforest canopy – a secluded hideaway for the owners to retreat from the city and connect with the natural landscape.

The Burke Museum is the oldest public museum in Washington State with a collection of over 16 million artifacts and specimens, ranging from totem poles and gemstones to dinosaur fossils. The design of the new building breaks down traditional museum barriers between public and “back-of-house” spaces, integrating collections and research labs with traditional galleries. The result is an experience that invites everyone – from curators to visitors, educators to students – to engage in the process of scientific and cultural discovery.

Constructed as a modern structure within an historic one, ANOHA—The Children’s World of the Jewish Museum Berlin features a circular wooden ark, standing almost 23 feet tall with a 92-foot base diameter. ANOHA uses ancient flood narratives as an allegory for contemporary issues related to climate change, encouraging children to forge connections with one another and work together to create an empathetic future. More than 150 sculptural animals, each created from found objects by a team of 18 Berlin artists, populate the ark.

The Century Project, a significant renovation of Seattle’s iconic Space Needle, introduced a new visitor experience to preserve the tower’s legacy for its next 50 years. The new design includes the world’s first rotating glass floor on the restaurant level, floor-to-ceiling glass barriers with integral glass benches on the observation deck, a new steel and glass stairway with a glass-floored oculus connecting all three floors, and revised interiors throughout the “top house” of the Needle. The project was also recently certified LEED® Gold for Commercial Interiors.

As a firm deeply rooted in the Pacific Northwest, we are honored to have our work recognized by this program, and thankful to the valued clients and project partners we had the opportunity to work with on each project.

Rio House, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Design Principal: Tom Kundig, FAIA, RIBA
Project Manager / Project Architect: Edward Lalonde
Architectural Staff: Fergus Knox
Gizmo Design: Phil Turner
General Contractor: Construtora São Bento
Project Manager / Owner’s Representative: Jose Luiz Canal
Structural Engineers: MCE Structural Consultants and Mauro Jorge
Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing Engineers: WSP and GreenWatt
Landscape Architect: Isabel Duprat Landscape Architecture
Lighting Design: O- Lighting Design
Façade Consultant: Front
Steelwork: Eleve
Gizmo Design: KB Architectural Services with Phil Turner
Gizmo Fabricator: 12th Avenue Iron

The Burke Museum, Seattle, Washington, USA

Design Principal: Tom Kundig, FAIA, RIBA
Principal and Project Manager: Stephen Yamada-Heidner, AIA, LEED® AP
Project Architects: Edward Lalonde and Justin Helmbrecht, LEED® AP
Architectural Staff: Gavin Argo, Julia Khorsand and Olivier Landa, AIA, LEED® AP BD+C
Gizmo Design: Phil Turner
General Contractor: Skanska
Laboratories: BergerABAM
Landscape Architect: Gustafson Guthrie Nichol
Elevators: Lerch Bates
Civil and Structural Engineer: Magnusson Klemencic Associates
Lighting Design: Niteo Lighting
Building Envelope: RDH
Electrical Engineer: Stantec
Mechanical Engineer: WSP
Gizmo Fabrication: Turner Exhibits
Specifications: Cite Specific
Museum Programmer: Walter Crimm Associates
Accessibility Consultant: Karen Braitmayer
Exhibit Design: Evidence Design

ANOHA—The Children’s World of the Jewish Museum Berlin, Berlin, Germany

Design Principal: Alan Maskin
Project Manager: Stephen Yamada-Heidner, AIA, LEED® AP
Project Architect: Martina Bendel
Architectural Staff: Jerome Tryon
Design Competition Team: Alan Maskin, Jerome Tryon, Juan Ferreira, Stephen Yamada-Heidner, Katie Miller and Martina Bendel
Local Site Manager: Labs von Helmolt
Local Architect: Architekturbüro Engelbrecht
Local Exhibit Designer: IGLHAUT + von GROTE
Owner’s Representative: IBPM GmbH – Projektsteuerung
Structural Engineer: EiSat GmbH
Mechanical and Plumbing Engineer: Rentschler und Riedesser GmbH
Electrical Engineer: Ingenieurbüro für Elektrotechnik (IfE) Grothe GmbH
Lighting Design: Blieske Architects Lighting Designers
Natural Ventilation Concept / Climate Engineer: Transsolar KlimaEngineering
Animal Construction: Kubix GmbH
Artists: Arie van Riet (artistic x-ray images of various animals in the security area); Dieter Braun (large illustrations throughout the museum); Andrea Übelacker (“world puzzle” art project, produced in collaboration with elementary school children grades 1-3); Gunilla Jähnichen and Tine Steen (collaborative Noah’s Ark film project in the foyer); Wolfram Spyra (sound artist for installations in the foyer and Rain Room, sound artist and developer of the sound islands in the Flood Room); Martin Böttger (water animation in the Flood Room); Anne Metzen, Agnes Kelm, Andreas Edelblut, Annika Statkowski, Armin Benz, Beate Kelm, Conny Helm, Falk Starke, Franz Rodvalt, Gisbert Barmann, Gunnar Zimmer, Heiko Helm, Jan Schroeder, Jens Prockat, Jochen Müller, Jörg Hilbert, Maria Bahra, Matthias Garff, Myriel Kohrs, Nina Schrader and Thomas Raditschnig (animals)

The Century Project at the Space Needle, Seattle, Washington, USA

Design Principal: Alan Maskin
Project Architect: Blair Payson, AIA, LEED® AP
Architectural Staff: Marlene Chen, AIA, LEED® AP, Crystal Coleman, LEED® AP, Alex Fritz, Julia Khorsand, Hayden Robinson and Nathan Boyd
Interior Design: Naomi Mason, IIDA, LEED® AP
Interior Design Staff: Laina Navarro
Development Manager: Seneca Group
Owner’s Representative: Battle Management Consulting
General Contractor: Hoffman Construction
Structural Engineer and Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing Engineer of Record: Arup
Seismic Improvements Structural Engineer: Magnusson Klemencic Associates
Mechanical and Plumbing Design Assist Subconsultant: Holaday-Parks, Inc.
Electrical Assist Subconsultant: Holmes
Glazing Consultant: Front, Inc.
Lighting Design: Niteo
Building Envelope Consultant: RDH
Restaurant and Café Furniture and Finishes Designer: Tihany Design
Restaurant, Café and Kitchen Architect of Record: McVey Oakley
Turntable Engineer: Fives Lund Engineering
Acoustical Engineer: BRC
Accessibility Consultant: Karen Braitmayer
Code Consultant: T.A. Kinsman Consulting
Fire Protection Consultant: Eric Tuazon
LEED Consultant: O’Brien360
Vertical Transportation: FS2, Inc.
ADA Stair Design and Fabrication: Sesame Access
Architectural Decorative Glass: Pulp Studio
AV Design-Build Integrator: Avidex Industries
Commissioning Agent: Engineering Economics
Crane: Omega Morgan
Elevator Design-Build Installer: Otis Elevator Company
Environmental: Pacific Rim
Façade Access Consultant: Greg Mayer
Fall Protection: Pro-Bel
Fire Protection: Smith Fire Systems
Flooring and Tile: Rubenstein
Food Service Equipment: Bargreen Ellingson
Glass Fabrication: Thiele Glass
Glass Installation Robot Design and Fabrication: Breedt Production Tooling & Design
Glass Installation: Herzog Glass
Historic Preservation: BOLA
IT/AV/Security Strategist: Novare
Land Use Attorney: McCullough Hill
Metal Panel Installation: McKinstry
Painting: Purcell Painting
Performance Testing: Intertek
Scaffolding Design and Installation: Safway Group
Security Design-Build Installer: Aronson Security Group
Security Programming: Concentric Advisors
Seismic Geotechnical Engineer: Hart Crowser
Specialty Contracting: Performance Contracting Group
Specifications Consultant: Cite/Specific
Steel Fabrication and Installation: Apex Steel
Testing and Inspections: Mayes Testing
Wind Consultant: RWDI