January 12, 2000

Blaine Weber, Weber + Thompson Architects

Blaine Weber

Blaine Weber

Weber + Thompson is an architectural and interior design firm specializing in diverse projects, including mixed-use buildings, financial facilities, office, retail, restaurants, single-family and multifamily residences.

Q: What are your design influences?

A: I went to college in the days when the influence of the Bauhaus was still felt and when architects like Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier were still appreciated, so I would have to say I learned a great appreciation for the idea that less is more.

Q: What are your firm’s strategies for growth?

A: We started our firm after the crash of the stock market in 1987, and initially there were three of us – architect friends who had worked together. We’ve never been unprofitable, but we’ve gone through some hard times when the market turned down, and that was a big influence on how we structured our firm.

We used to be so focused on one particular area, mixed-use multifamily buildings, which still constitutes a major part of our practice, but we recognized that in order to survive the ups and downs of the economy, we needed to diversify.

We practice in eight different areas now.

Q: What makes multifamily projects active markets for your firm?

A: One of the things that makes it strong is that there are not enough units in the pipeline. That’s partly because the permitting process is so onerous, so difficult and takes so long that it chokes the supply.

Part of the boom that we see here is not only from growth; it’s also that the supply has been choked by bureaucracy. You have the Growth Management Act, you have SEPA, you have design review in the city of Seattle, which is now a very political process — and that all adds time to the process.

Q: How has the local permitting process changed over the last decade?

A: There was a time years ago — and I’ll have to couch this with some of the benefits to public input – that I could go into the Building Department and walk out the same day with a building permit. Back then, a developer didn’t have to carry the costs, didn’t have the high permit fees, didn’t have to make multiple presentations before different community bodies. It was a much simpler, more streamlined process. Over the years, it has continually become more complex.

Q: How does working as an architect in Seattle compare with working in other U.S. cities?

A: It’s more challenging in Seattle and throughout King County. In some cases, it one year or longer to process a building permit.

We also work in California and Oregon where, generally speaking, the entitlement process is much simpler even though, in some regards, the codes are more complex.

First Tech.com, located in Hillsboro, Ore., is a credit union whose members are employees of high-tech companies. The 5,000-square-foot facility features advanced technology for self-service banking.

A: Perhaps architects could bring to light the magnitude of cost that the entitlement process throws into the cost of construction. It increases the cost of housing substantially. That’s all passed on to consumers.

Q: What new markets are you looking at?

A: Our focus this year is restaurants and hospitality. We have architects and interior designers working side-by-side — not in separate departments, but in teams. A number of us here have backgrounds in restaurant design. We’re doing three of them right now — one in Bellevue that’s going to be very notable.

Q: What makes for a successful project?

A: We really get in and try to understand our clients’ businesses from their standpoint. To put a project together, you have to look at it from a marketing standpoint. You have to be market-focused.

In office buildings, for example, we work with a lot of commercial brokers because they’re the pulse of the market. There’s a lot of market research out there, so we try to stay on top of that.

Q: What kinds of projects don’t work architecturally?

A: Buildings that don’t create a lively, vibrant retail at their base are almost criminal. Once of the most important things you can do is pay attention to the pedestrian experience — how does the building meet the street for the passerby?

I was in Dallas recently at the AIA convention. The downtown core is almost a ghost town because they have all these blank façades.

The other thing that architects do is we tend to design our buildings looking down on them, not realizing that your eye line is at 5 to 6 feet and you’re looking up at the building when it is built. I think we need pay a lot more attention to urban design issues as architects and also to the context — how does the building mesh into the fabric of the neighborhood? Is it a sore thumb, is it a monument to the architect or is it something that recognizes what’s on all sides of it and tries to fit in and contribute to that setting?

Q: Are you opposed to signature buildings?

A: Not at all. But there’s a way to do a signature building that is still responsive to its site. As architects, if we try to do signature buildings for themselves without considering context, it’s irresponsible.

Q: Which one of your projects best exemplifies your design philosophy?

Water's Edge, on 925 Lake St. S. in Kirkland, is a 13-unit luxury condominium overlooking Lake Washington.

I’ve just designed one, though, that I think is headed in that direction. It’s the Colman Tower in Pioneer Square. We have a client who is already the owner of a historic building in the area, the Colman Building, and he’s charged us with designing an office tower that not only gives a nod to the historic Colman Building and is compatible with it, but that also somehow takes some elements of Pioneer Square and pulls them back to this building.

I am also very excited about the 2nd and Lenora project, a 24-story, mixed-use building on the site of the old Crystal Pool Natatorium. Our clients have agreed to save the façades of this structure, making it a real challenge to marry a huge tower into such a unique structure.

Q: Are these historic references in new buildings a trend in Seattle?

A: There is a movement that everything old is new again. The challenge as architects is not to just copy old things but to reinterpret them in a meaningful, contemporary way.

Seattle has become pretty conservative with regard to design. It’s very difficult — especially in neighborhoods — to get contemporary design through the review process. It is the path of least resistance to go back to old styles, but at the same time, I’ve learned a new appreciation of those styles from a bygone era.

Q: What’s your forecast for architecture in Seattle?

A: I am so excited to be living in Seattle in the year 2000. We are on the leading edge of this new economy with all of the high-tech infrastructure.

There’s an energy level in this city that just gives me a charge. I think it’s spilling into design as well. Part of it is that there’s a lot of money in this area, and though money isn’t the answer to everything, it does buy the ability to change and improve things. This is the place to be for architecture. This is going to be the jewel of the Pacific in the next 10 years.

Q: Do you see Frank Gehry’s EMP, Rem Koolhaas’ library and some other high-profile projects as contributing to the architectural scene?

A: Definitely. I’m withholding judgment on the EMP right now, so we’ll see. But, it brings some new energy, some new lifeblood to the city, so I’m excited about it.

With the Koolhaas building, let me be diplomatic and say I don’t quite understand it yet. It’s out there, but maybe that’s what we need. We are very conservative in Seattle. I just hope it works.

Q: What do you like best about your job?

A: One of the reasons I got into architecture in the first place is that it’s such a fascinating blend of art and science. When you can blend art and science and create exciting environments that inspire people or allow people to enjoy life a little more, that to me is a gift. It’s a privilege for me to be in this profession.

Previous columns:

• Michael Gibson, The Architecture Group, 12-29-1999
• Ming Zhang, Mulvanny Architects, 12-22-1999
• Arny Bailey, In Form Inc., 12-15-1999
• Gary Bourne, Berryman & Henigar Inc., 12-08-1999
• Walter Schacht and Cima Malek-Aslani, 12-01-1999
• Peter Steinbrueck, 11-24-1999
• Paul Masten, Reid Middleton, 11-17-1999
• Jeff Clark, Architectural Werks, 11-10-1999