Downtown Seattle Hotel

Vision
Positioned at the intersection of Seattle’s primary downtown commercial, convention, and high-rise residential neighborhoods, the Downtown Seattle Hotel synthesizes diverse urban influences into a skyline-scaled mixed-use architectural collage. A composition of monolithic solids suspended among voids created by the public spaces supports an efficient, engaging interplay between the community and a vast influx of international visitors, while anchoring the rapid northward expansion of downtown’s urban fabric.

Program and Site
An 8-story podium with a footprint covering 3/4 of a city block provides 105,000 SF of meeting and ballroom space, integrated with ground-level retail and hotel lobby functions and a 500-ft tall, 1,264-room hotel tower above. A mid-block connector through the podium interfaces with an existing alley to accommodate all loading dock, parking garage access, valet and drop-off services within the interior of the block, leaving the street perimeter free for continuous public space with wide sidewalks, street furnishings, and generous vegetation.

The placement of the tower on the south corner of the block allows it to interface with the dense commercial high-rises of downtown and the new convention center expansion, while framing the Olive/Howell triangle as a significant space in the shifted urban street grid. This massing choice also minimizes shadows cast over adjacent blocks to the north, where the lower height of the podium aligns well with the residential and mixed-use neighborhood.

Design
The building directly engages the city with its vibrant lower levels, which includes the lobby, porte-cochere, restaurants, bars, and shops. Ground level spaces blur the line between the lobby and the wide, landscaped sidewalks—a visual merger of inside and outside. A prominent second level offers additional retail, including a grab-and-go market, a large bar and restaurant, and expanded lobby lounge space for hotel and meeting guests. On the exterior, the building leverages a minimal material palette of polished white concrete panel and structural glass walls to express the composition of public and private spaces, while reinforcing the connectivity of the public spaces to the city beyond. At street level, the polished, white concrete podium is suspended over a glass wall that wraps the building. The glass wall, ranging up to 50-feet-in-height, achieves maximum transparency through the use of low-iron glass and a minimally intrusive structural support system. Stainless steel, T-shaped support columns feature a combination of matte and polished surfaces. The reflection from these polished-edge surfaces provides a subtly nuanced detail throughout the street-level public spaces. Lobbies feature white, Venetian plaster walls, recalling the polished white concrete of the exterior. Stone and carpeted floors, fritted glass, locally-sourced wood finishes, and specialty casework and lighting fixtures round out the major interior materials. Paintings and sculpture, located throughout the building’s public spaces, will animate the building’s refined aesthetic.