Washington Mutual Bank, Seattle, Washginton
From CollabLandWiki
Photos of Washington Mutual Bank roof garden
- Location
- Designer
- Phillips Farevaag Smallenberg, Vancouver British Colombia, Canada
- Design/Programmatic goals
- Roof garden can have sustainable aspects while still being a social, comfortable and symbolic space
- 17th floor of Washington Mutual Bank
- Extensive green roof
- 20,000 Sq. Ft.
- Planted with tough, low maintenance plants
- Staff encouraged to use space for working individually or in small groups
- Provided bar offers coffee, breakfast and lunch during the work day as well as beer and wine in the after hours
- A place for conversation and relaxation during break periods
- Hosts receptions, company cookouts, weddings and other events
- The design philosophy addressed four major principles:
1. Genus Loci: Landscape design that references the site in an abstract – not literal – manner, adds a level of profoundness to a place. This roof garden offers an opportunity to interpret a regional ‘sense of place’, and to offer a narrative of the Bank’s history and role in the community.
2. Edges: Inside / Outside: The adjacency between indoor and outdoor space is crucial. Strong connections provide places of prospect and refuge, mediate extremes of climate, and create a social energy at the edge. The success of the roof terrace is a result of studying connections through that edge.
3. Views: Intimate / Grand: This roof garden is experienced from the greater scale of views to and from the cityscape, and from the more personal interaction of those using the space. Attention was paid to materials and pattern viewed from above while providing comfort.
4. Program: Event / Everyday: Our role was to prove that the garden could be an extension of the work place while also being an formal event space. The roof deck becomes the physical heart of the building and social soul of the bank. [1]
- Strengths
- With the use of shore pines, broadleaf evergreens such as ceanothus, azaleas, and boxwoods, this site produces mass and greenery during winter months
- Absorbs re-radiated heat from the building
- Stormwater preservation
- Viewing deck immerses visitors in Seattle's downtown skylyne
- Screen wall reduces wind velocity for users
- Attractive culture is a big factor ini recruiting
- Great views looking into space as well as outwards(Space Needle, Mount Rainer)
- Tables, chairs and benches provide comforatble places to park your laptop
- Beautiful color patterns with the evergreens, natural grasses and rock work --even in the winter months
- Use of fireplaces make the garden extremely popular even in winter months
- Public space for visitors
- Weaknesses
- The planting areas and boulder outcropping were edged with red geraniums, white impatiens, blue lobelia, and yellow marigolds
- Even though patriotic, the aesthetic is an uneasy hybrid of zen calm and fourth of July fireworks
- Possible conflict with drainage patterns
- Suggestion to add planters to wood decking
- Could use more seating due to the number of employees in the building
- Unsure if the irrigation system is needed as plants mature
- Success or Failure
- This site poses as a definite success. The overlooked feature of the garden is how it combines a usable public space for human enjoyment with ecological green roof characteristics, including urban heat island effect reduction(absorbing heat from building), stormwater preservation, and native, yet also drought-tolerant planting. This project supports the fact that sustainable landscape roof design should not be limited to extensive low-maintenance green roofs, but that it can also be practical, social, symbolic, and contemporary.
"The balance of textures is really remarkable--you lose sight of the fact that it's on a roof. We love the reflective surface and elegant plant materials. The screen is a stroke of genius."
— 2007 Professional Awards Jury Comments
Resources:
- ASLA 2007 Professional Awards. 14 Jan 2007 <ASLA>
- McIntyre, Linda. "Above It All." Landscape Architecture Nov. 2007: 94-101
