9th and Thomas

Project Details

Project Description

“The Redman family has invested in the Seattle community for years, and they have seen the South Lake Union neighborhood change and evolve over time. In line with their commitment to the community, my design goal for 9th & Thomas was to focus on the street level as much as possible to engage with the pedestrian scale of the neighborhood and make it a place for community gathering.” – Tom Kundig, FAIA, RIBA, Design Principal

Legacy and community are the key drivers behind 9th & Thomas, a twelve-story mixed-use project located in South Lake Union. The site was originally developed in 1944 as the headquarters of Sellen Construction, now the largest locally-owned general contractor in the Pacific Northwest. The Redman family, owners of Sellen, decided to develop this legacy project at 9th & Thomas after their headquarters moved around the corner in 1999.

“In 1944, my grandfather started Sellen Construction and bought land in South Lake Union. We were the first new building in the area before the bulk of development that has happened since. For 9th & Thomas, we wanted to invest in a legacy building. The program is to create a center for the neighborhood.” –Scott Redman, President of Sellen Construction, Client and General Contractor for 9th & Thomas

The design of this new 230,000-square-foot building emphasizes porousness and adaptability. The building’s massing is in the form of a cascading cube, where a strong corner position is softened with setbacks, exposed terraces and inset covered terraces on nearly every floor. These openings help break down the building’s scale, making it responsive to its context at all levels.

“The transparent and accessible podium level of 9th & Thomas is articulated in an eclectic style that references the evolutionary process of a community like South Lake Union. The building has parts and pieces that move and change, open and close. It’s intentionally inviting walk-in traffic, and my hope is that the public lobby slows down the neighborhood and establishes a sense of place.” – Tom Kundig, FAIA, RIBA, Design Principal

Large, operable windows along the façade allow the building to adapt to Seattle’s ever-changing weather conditions, giving the upper-level office tenants the ability to control their spaces with natural ventilation and daylight. A fourth-floor roof garden and series of outdoor terraces running up the building continue the emphasis on occupant wellness. The project is LEED® Gold certified.

Reflecting the Redman family’s longstanding commitment to the neighborhood, 9th & Thomas is designed to be a central hub serving its community. The building features a double-height glazed corner entrance to the main lobby, welcoming the neighborhood into this public gathering space. Activated by the retail and restaurant spaces framing the lobby, this neighborhood “living room” will be home to a range of curated arts programming such as live music and performances. The building’s inviting street presence establishes 9th & Thomas as a contextual community hub – one that will serve the rapidly evolving South Lake Union neighborhood today and into the future.

“9th & Thomas provided an opportunity to think about the role of mixed-use office buildings in the creation of neighborhoods. Here, we are paying close attention to relationships to the street, neighborhood and views. Emphasizing porousness in the design sets a paradigm for these types of buildings as we consider how to welcome the population and contribute to Seattle’s culture one building at a time.” –Kirsten R. Murray, FAIA, Managing Principal



Project Team: Tom Kundig, FAIA, RIBA, Design Principal; Kirsten R. Murray, FAIA, Principal; Jeff Ocampo, LEED® AP, Project Manager; John Hallock, LEED® AP, Project Architect; Sasha Leon, Hayden Robinson, Brian Walters, LEED® AP, Jamie Slagel and Bryan Berkas, Architectural Staff; Naomi Mason, IIDA, LEED® AP, Laina Navarro and Irina Bokova, Lobby Interior Design; Phil Turner, Gizmo Design



Key Consultants: Sellen Construction, General Contractor; Magnusson Klemencic Associates, Civil and Structural Engineer; McKinstry, MEP Engineer; SiteWorkshop, Landscape Architect; Resolute, Lighting Design including fabrication of custom light fixture in lobby; Turner Exhibits, Custom exterior kinetic screen fabricator; Architectural Elements, Custom stair fabricator


Photos: Nic Lehoux, Aaron Leitz