Project Description
Seattle District headquarters for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is a LEED Gold project which was partially funded through the U.S. GSA’s Design Excellence Program, established to procure the nation’s best engineers and architects in order to achieve the most innovative and high-performance design in federal government buildings.
All of the wood used in the project was salvaged from a 1940s-era warehouse that previously occupied the site—a total of 200,000 board feet of heavy timber and 100,000 board feet of 2×6 tongue and groove roof decking. The heavy timber is featured fully exposed in the central commons, which includes conference rooms, libraries, restrooms and gathering areas. However, because the amount of reclaimed wood was limited, composite timber-concrete beams were also used to increase beam spacing and allow the entire program to be met with wood from the warehouse. Heavy timber was also used on the walking surfaces of interior pedestrian bridges and stairs, incorporated into the exterior entry canopy, and milled for use as hand railings and ceiling finishes, while reclaimed decking was also used for interior wall panelling.