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Seattle Convention Center Summit Building – ULI Americas Awards for Excellence Special Mention
May 3, 2024
Photo By Tim Griffith
View from Pine Street and 9th Avenue
Photo By Tim Griffith
Vertical Convention Center: The convention center’s program is distributed across six levels of event spaces, including two exhibit halls stacked one above and one below-grade. Visual connectivity between event floors and individual areas of the building helps orient attendees as they navigate the various levels through dramatic vertical spaces
Location: Seattle, Washington
Developer: Pine Street Group L.L.C.
Designers: LMN Architects; Graham Baba Architects; Scharrer AD; Rolluda Architects; Tiscareno Associates
Site Size: 4.6 acres
Photo By Tim Griffith
Art and Community: A robust public art program was established to highlight the range and diversity of local artists. At street level, retail and public artworks activate the building’s perimeter, while the main lobby shares space with a public, art-filled market space with shops and restaurants that are open to the community. The chandelier designed by the architects in collaboration with artist Cathy McClure creates an intricate wooden patchwork of panels composed of lights, textures, and shadows. The design and patterns of the panels were inspired by microscopic cell structures found in the local trees. Light is projected through the custom- made perforated panels to mimic the immersive experience of a Pacific Northwest forest
The Seattle Convention Center (SCC) Summit building offers a new model for convention centers. The new 1.5-million-square-foot convention center introduces design innovations that significantly improve the industry standard and create an elevated social experience for convention delegates.
While typical convention centers sprawl horizontally, Summit’s program elements are vertically stacked in a compact footprint that fits into a dense downtown. As North America’s first high-rise convention center, Summit changes the experience for convention goers. Instead of being detached in acres of meeting space, conventioneers can see each other via the 225-foot atrium that extends the building’s full height. Able to view activity throughout the center, conventioneers are better able to navigate and engage with others in an experience that is less intimidating and richer than that afforded by vast horizontal spaces.
Summit is situated at the nexus of seven of Seattle’s most densely populated neighborhoods, helping to stitch together the urban core. Inside, the building offers a range of formal and informal gathering spaces across six levels. Throughout, extensive glazing brings daylight deep into the building.
As a good neighbor, the project is providing $93 million in benefits to the community, primarily through funding contributions to public projects. In its first year, events and conferences held in Summit (including four campus-wide events) have seen approximately 175,000 attendees and yielded more than $200 million in economic impact. Exceeding local sustainability requirements, Summit achieved LEED Platinum status, the 2022 Vision Award for Water from the Seattle 2030 District and Salmon-Safe certification.
Photo By Tim Griffith
Large expanses of glazed walls around the building’s perimeter contribute to an abundance of natural light inside. This increased transparency promotes a synergistic connection between the building and the city
Summit comprises six levels, with two exhibit halls, two meeting room levels, a 58,000-square-foot ballroom, and a glass-enclosed atrium stair called the Hillclimb that doubles as an amphitheater gathering space. The stairway takes a visual cue from the region’s mountain ranges and steep hills. Summit’s extensive glazing, while still allowing LEED Platinum certification, connects users to the surrounding urban context, which becomes the backdrop for events happening inside. The emphasis on transparency continues at street level, where a public plaza connects to the building’s main lobby and retail spaces.
Inside, the building engages the senses with regionally sourced and reclaimed wood, a tactile link to the Pacific Northwest’s timber history. Timber accents include intricate light fixtures, the Hillclimb made from madrone hardwood, and a canopy of dangling Douglas fir “combs” above the stairs. Reclaimed lumber from the original site was repurposed throughout the building, in addition to wormwood salvaged from log booms from the Washington peninsula. Twenty-three artists created permanent commissions for Summit, an additional nearly 40 artists are represented in a large collection of studio works, and a revolving collection of audio artworks and artists are featured in an outdoor landscaped open space. The range of artistic contributions, each offering the place-based experience of the artist, helps connect the building to Seattle’s rich cultural traditions.
Summit has the ample back-of-house services needed for convention centers. Loading dock operations were pushed below grade and linked to the main facility underneath a busy downtown street. The loading dock below grade created at-grade pads for two co-developments, including a 500,000-square-foot office building and a 30-story apartment tower, to be owned and developed by others.
Photo By Tim Griffith
View from Pine Street and Boren Avenue
SCC’s expansion was discussed for years before pre-development efforts began. Historically, SCC turned away as much business as it booked. The goal was to capture this lost business. The first big decision was where to expand – in proximity to the existing convention center in downtown Seattle or in a less urban location that could provide a larger footprint? SCC ultimately decided to expand on a site neighboring its downtown location. This was much more challenging because of the lack of a large site and tight constructability requirements. The decision required the team to create a uniquely vertical convention center and break up the mass to fit in the urban context.
Summit nearly doubles the size of SCC, complementing the original building, completed in 1988. A compact and efficient layout significantly reduces the distances within the building and offers unique ways to execute events of all sizes. The transparency created by the significant amount of glazing in the building engages conventioneers and the public at multiple scales.
An important draw for prospective groups has been Summit’s dynamic, bold design. A dramatic Hillclimb staircase steps up one side of the building. More than just a spectacle, the staircase functions internally as an atrium as well as informal seating, where event goers can network, rest and recharge. Ultimately, the design satisfies the Convention Center’s need for flexible, large-scale event spaces that can meet a range of uses, while also offering a new piece of urban infrastructure that connects communities.