Seattle’s New Industry & Innovation Zone Features Concept for First Tom Kundig‑designed Life Sciences Building
2023/08/03
Olson Kundig is pleased to share concept images of a new laboratory and life sciences building in Seattle’s Interbay neighborhood. On July 18, the Seattle City Council voted to adopt a long-anticipated legislative package that aims to revitalize industrial areas and allow innovation in industrial products. The prospective laboratory and life sciences project, framed by Elliott Avenue West and the Port of Seattle’s Terminal 86 grain facility, will be a catalyst development for the newly formed Industry and Innovation zone.
Led by design principal Tom Kundig, FAIA, RIBA, the design concept responds to the large, linear site by distributing the laboratory and life sciences program across three main volumes. This strategy preserves a flexible floorplan to suit a wide range of office, technology and retail tenants, breaking down the scale of the building to provide a welcoming and comfortable workplace. The orientation and massing of each volume creates setbacks to frame outdoor courtyards and views to the waterfront beyond, fostering connections between the new building and its unique environment.
“It’s an incredible honor to work on a project like this one that will help shape the future of an urban district as a leader in innovation,” Kundig shares. “The concept merges my extensive experience creating architecture that supports innovative, collaborative work with a laboratory-focused, life sciences program, and I’m excited for the opportunity to engage with this sector. The design responds to and respects the incredible industrial heritage of this site, informed by the experiential and functional needs of its users.”
The site is owned by PP&G Properties, LLC, an entity formed by doctors Gregory Vaughn and Paola Leone, the husband-and-wife team behind Leone & Vaughn Orthodontics. Their orthodontic practice has three offices in Seattle and Bellevue, including an Interbay location at the building site. Anticipating increased density within the Industry and Innovation zone, this development site provides an opportunity for a major presence near Expedia’s Global Headquarters, the Elliott Bay Trail, Olympic Sculpture Park and more. A planned light rail station at Smith Cove will further improve access to the new zone and underscores the potential for the zone to emerge as a new hub for technology in Seattle.
“Seattle is about to see an incredible investment in transit infrastructure; coupled with the innovative Industrial Lands legislation, this creates a tremendous opportunity to create employment-dense industrial and commercial uses near transit,” Dr. Gregory Vaughn, Managing Partner of PP&G Properties, LLC, says. “Our patients and employees already appreciate Interbay’s unique central location and easy access to downtown, the waterfront and local neighborhoods, and we’ve always felt this unique site gives us the opportunity to do something truly iconic and special. An innovative, thoughtful Olson Kundig designed building, at this site and with this large scale, allows us to be a catalyst for the redevelopment and reimagination of Interbay.”
Elliott Avenue West Development, Seattle, Washington, USA
Design Principal: Tom Kundig, FAIA, RIBA
Project Manager: Michael Cady, AIA
Architectural Staff: Annika Larson
Client: PP&G Properties, LLC