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YWCA Homeless Facility in Seattle Wins Top Commercial Building Award

Completed late last year, the YWCA Opportunity Place provides affordable housing, offers job training and helps women overcome the impact of domestic violence. On the top five floors of the building there are 105 studio apartments and 40 one-bedroom units for low-income residents.

Three commercial lease spaces located on the street level supply retail goods and services to the neighborhood while providing income to help support the YWCA.

Thermal insulation in the structure’s exterior walls, floors, roofing and windows exceed energy code requirements by 40%.

The building was built to stand for 100 years, and its cast-in-place concrete-moment frame construction was selected to provide long-term flexibility for the YWCA’s program needs. There are only eight interior columns in the building and all of its partitions are non-load-bearing so the interior space can be changed without making structural changes.

Overall construction costs were approximately $150 per square foot, including site work and utility connections. The following participated in the project:

Owner: YWCA of Seattle — King County — Snohomish County
General Contractor: Shanska Building USA
Mechanical Contactor: Hermanson Company LLP
Electrical Contractor: EHS Electrical Contractors LLC
Fire Protection: Patriot Fire Protection
Architect: Stickney Murphy Romine Architects PLLC
Structural & Civil Engineer: MKA (Magnusson Klemencic Associates)
Electrical Engineer: A.E.S.
Landscape Architect (Street Landscaping): Hough Beck & Baird, Inc.
Landscape Architect (Courtyard Landscaping): Susan Black & Associates
Acoustical: SSA Acoustics
Photographer: Michael Romine, Stickney Murphy Romine Architects PLLC

Promised Valley Theater Renovation in Salt Lake City, built by R&O Construction, was named the Project of the Year for Division III, Institutional, Preserving History. This design-build project involved renovating the structurally unsound 95-year-old theatre, including demolition of the existing auditorium and construction of a six-level, 150,000-square-foot, seven-story parking structure. The 29,000-square-foot lobby was renovated into office or retail space while preserving the historical integrity of the façade, according to the strict historic guidelines of the Department of Interior Standards for Historic Renovation. 

The nine-month project included demolition of the existing playhouse — about 90% of the existing facility — the historical restoration of the front 10% of the building and conversion of the restored area into office/retail space. Pre-cast concrete was used to replace and replicate the theatre's stone and terracotta. According to R&O Construction, the biggest challenge faced during the renovation was coordinating with the city on trucking out the old and bringing in the new materials, a process that required close attention to scheduling.

Participating in the projects were: MHTN, architect; Richards Consulting, engineer; and Robert Casey, photographer.