Architecture in Seattle

Because our social distancing has kept us from heading out to museums or shops or other places where we’ll be mingling with a lot of people, we haven’t had much to report in the way of new sights we’ve seen. But a very special one was shared with us by our son whose architecture firm Public47 has been building state-of-the-art structures in Seattle for many years. He shared with us a private tour of one which his firm recently completed, a five-story apartment building named Inspire/Bridgeway, which is notable for many features not the least of which is that it is 105% energy efficient.

The apartments are fairly small, the majority about 350 square feet; each has its own balcony.

The roof deck generally has a beautiful view of downtown Seattle. Not on this day!

The building is completely electric, with these solar panels providing all the energy required. They are remarkably sturdy. and can even be walked on with a power washer to keep them clean, a critical necessity if they are to be efficient.

For more information about Public 47 and for some much better pictures of this project taken on a much clearer day, please check out http://public47.com/portfolio/bridge_way/.

Afterwards we toured the offices of Public 47. Below is the office where these ideas first come to life, and are often followed by a model of the proposed project. The picture below is the model for Inspire/Bridgeway.