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This award-winning contemporary design centers on an open, light-filled atrium space, to help foster a strong sense of community for the school. Accommodating approximately 850 students, this 136,000 sf building is both compact and generous in its plan and proportions.
Given the surrounding context, there was a strong desire to minimize the impact of this structure on its surroundings. Moving the main case rooms to a lower level and opening this area up to the space above created a visually appealing atrium space, while keeping the above-grade mass within the scale of the campus. The four floors above grade house smaller classrooms as well as a 250,000-volume library, faculty offices, administrative spaces, student gathering areas, law clinic, moot court, and other functions.
Connections to the school’s surroundings were made by creating covered exterior pathways and by using masonry and other materials found elsewhere on campus. Extensive use of daylighting strategies to bring in and control natural light and the use of rain-screen wall technologies are examples of sustainable design strategies used in this building.
Seattle AIA Award of Merit, 2000
Northwest Masonry Award, 2000
This project was executed while Scott Allen was a Principal at Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects (OSKA). Scott Allen, co-principal in collaboration with Rick Sundberg (Yost Grube Hall, Associate Architects). Interiors by Yost Grube Hall. Benjamin Benschneider, photography. Tim Bies, photography.
This 106,000 sf facility is located adjacent to the historic Union Station in Tacoma, Washington. The building design grew out of a competition by architects Charles Moore and Arthur Andersson of Austin Texas. Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen collaborated with Moore/Andersson from schematic design through the project’s completion in 1996.
The project required extensive urban design elements, including considerations for the University of Washington’s Tacoma Campus, the historic fabric of this warehouse district, the Station, and planning for the Chihuly Bridge of Glass.
The design called for a strong contextual response to the existing domed station. The solution was a series of vaults, connected by a single longitudinal vault to form a series of intersecting groins. The building plans incorporate a permanent exhibit of over 20,000 sf, chronicling the history of the state from geologic times to the present as well as large spaces dedicated to temporary exhibits.
Featured in Architectural Record, October 1996
Northwest Masonry Award, 1997
This project was designed by Moore/Andersson Architects. Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen, executive architects. Scott Allen, executive principal in collaboration with Rick Sundberg. Timothy Hursley, photography.
Located in downtown Tacoma, Washington, this 50,000 sf building design houses TAM’s collection of Northwest art and glass art and provides space for major traveling exhibits, educational outreach, and other civic functions. The contemporary building design wraps itself around an interior courtyard, with a gradually sloping ramp system leading from gallery to gallery. The lower levels house administrative and curatorial support spaces and the upper level has hands-on art studios and a library.
The exterior materials are primarily concrete, stainless steel, and glass, which helps dissolve the building’s materiality into the soft light of the Northwest. The design process was community-based and involved the input of the museum board and other entities, through a series of workshops, focused meetings, and liaison.
This project was designed by Antoine Predock Architect, Albuquerque, New Mexico. Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen (OSKA), executive architects. Scott Allen, executive principal. Lara Swimmer, photography.
This architectural Master Plan incorporates two key historical stories the Gig Harbor Historical Society wanted to tell: the timeline history of the Gig Harbor peninsula from pre-contact to the present, and the specific story of the local fishing fleet epitomized by the restored Shenandoah, a locally-built 1920’s-era wooden purse seiner.
The site sits above the harbor on a four-acre wooded parcel. At one end of the site a historic one-room schoolhouse will be relocated from another location, and will help interpret the experiences of early pioneer life. At the opposite end of the structure, the Shenandoah Gallery will support an ongoing effort to restore this historic boat and offer interpretive information about life during the heyday of the local fishing fleet. Large community gathering spaces, gallery spaces for permanent and traveling exhibits, and curatorial and administrative areas complete the scheme.
The building design process for this facility involved a highly interactive group of staff and volunteers, and included the development of a detailed architectural program.
This project was executed while Scott Allen was a Principal at Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects (OSKA). Scott Allen, co-principal in collaboration with Jim Olson.
This 300-seat sanctuary forms the focal point of this church campus in Bellevue, Washington. The interior space uses natural daylight as the central architectural design inspiration. A central spine of clerestory light defines a central axis, and a full-height curved plaster wall behind the altar brings diffused light from the sides and above to create a warm, glowing focal point to the religious experience.
A gabled narthex and support building form the entry to the sanctuary and is strongly contextual in its form and material selections to the adjacent Fellowship and Administrative buildings. The architectural design process was highly detailed and involved ecumenical guidance and unflagging congregational involvement.
Seattle Chapter AIA Citation Award, 1990
This project was executed while Scott Allen was an Associate at Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects (OSKA). Scott Allen, project manager. Jim Olson and Rick Sundberg, principal designers. Robert Pisano, photography.