Seattle City Hall
By Gregor Gosciniak and Cathleen Winter

1 August 2008: Seattle City Hall, with its environmentally friendly “green” roof and other state-of-the-art features, expresses the spirit of the modern Northwest. Built to endure for at least 100 years, it is part of the three-block Seattle Civic Centre. The complex is located at 600 Fourth Avenue and houses offices and chambers for the Mayor, the City Council, City Attorney and other local government departments.

In the mid-1990s Seattle was faced with decisions on what to do about its ageing city government buildings. Renovation and reconstruction were found to be both too expensive and inefficient. Seattle local government was at the time housed in an old skyscraper, known as the Municipal Building. In 1997 the City Council decided on a smaller City Hall that would be placed in the middle of a new Civic Centre occupying three blocks. Construction work began in 2001.
 
Architect Peter Bohlin, of Bohlin Cywinski Jackson and Bassetti Architects, and landscape architect Gustafson Guthrie Nichol Ltd., together with their design teams, planned the new structure. The City of Seattle instructed them to adhere to three criteria in the creation of the new City Hall: it must be open and welcoming for citizens, show respect for the environment, and be built to last a hundred years.

As construction neared completion in the summer of 2003, Rick Sundberg, a former chairman of the Seattle Design Committee, observed: “My hope is that the council chamber ensemble will become more a symbol of our city than the Space Needle and the monorail.”

Seattle City Hall is today the symbolic heart of the Civic Centre, and an important public landmark that invites citizens to participate in and celebrate their community, while creating an efficient workplace for City government. The working institution of City government is located in a seven-storey tower, with the mayor’s office at the top. Ceremonial and legislative aspects are located in the two-storey council chamber. These different parts are linked by a glazed public lobby with its “green” roof consisting of a multi-layered waterproofing membrane integrated with a soil support system requiring minimal maintenance. It is estimated that the roof reduces annual storm water runoff by 50 to 75 per cent. The roof is not accessible, but can be viewed from the elevator lobbies between the third and seventh floors.

This office block is built to be environmentally friendly. Almost all of the outer walls are made of glass. Daylight pervades the building, reducing the need for artificial light, while an under floor air distribution system helps to reduce energy consumption. Rainwater is stored in an underground cistern for reuse within the building and in the watering of the roof.
This transparent glass building is in itself an expression of open government in Seattle. The glass structure of City Hall, especially as it glows by night, has come to represent a civic focus for the downtown area.

Within the building a 20-metre long blue glass bridge, designed by artist James Carpenter, connects tower with chamber and overlooks the Civic Plaza and the beautiful landscape outside.  The bridge is the first application of DuPont™ SentryGlas® Secure™ technology worldwide, created by Carpenters JCD Associates of New York. In summary,  the new Seattle City Hall expresses with elegance and grace the modern spirit of the Northwest United States.

Greg Nickels, the 51st Mayor of Seattle, was elected in 2001. On 8 November 2005 he was elected to a second term. Prior to becoming mayor, he was legislative assistant to Seattle City Council members.