SEATTLE | 5th and Lenora | 440 FT | 44 FLOORS

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2025 5th Avenue by deanruffner, on Flickr

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Review board divided on Vulcan's ‘two-tower' design for new tower

After the April design review for its planned 44-story 5th & Lenora tower, Vulcan Real Estate did not expect to have a third meeting. However another review has been set for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, July 10 at City Hall, 600 5th Ave., Room 190.

The site is at 2025 Fifth Ave. in Belltown.

The basic program by architect Ankrom Moisan is about the same: 463 units, 315 parking spaces on seven underground levels and about 3,300 square feet of retail/commercial space. Total rentable area is 478,000 square feet, and the total size is about 620,000 square feet.

What's at issue, says Ankrom Moisan, is that the “board was split on the resolution of the two-tower concept.”

There is only one tower, of course. But the “two-tower” scheme divides it into two vertical aspects: one with brighter silver cladding and stepped “trays” facing east toward Fifth; the other darker and more vertical, with less relief or modulation, facing west toward the alley, the Warwick Hotel and Elliott Bay

The board report issued in May says, “The majority of the members thought the concept needed more integration between the two tower forms… while two members were satisfied with design as shown. The design question on the table was the integration of the dark, straight tower and the sliding trays tower forms.”

Ankrom Moisan says the tension between the two forms creates “dynamic contrast.” Another design cue is the “cascade” effect, meaning that the tower and pedestal have trays that shift and twist like the stones in a waterfall. These also create landscaped terraces on the lower floors.


[...]


For the upcoming July meeting, Ankrom Moisan is offering three responses to the divided board. First, the same design from April. Second, extend the silvery trays west, to reduce the contrast. Third, lose the charcoal color, and make the building uniformly silver.

Two possible treatments for the roof deck are also being presented, with relatively minor differences.

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Daily Journal of Commerce