Block 41

Location: Seattle, WA
Location: Graham Baba Architects

Block 41

Seattle, Washington
Graham Baba Architects

Project Overview

When we were approached by Jim Graham at Graham Baba Architects about this project, we knew it was going to be special. The project consisted of a complete remodel of an almost 100-year-old ice warehouse that was built during a time when horse drawn carriages delivered blocks of ice around the city. The client bought this nearly derelict building with a vision of turning it into a world class event space with a rotating art gallery. The work started with a complete seismic retrofit including driving piles and erecting steel members from the foundation to the roof. From there it progressed to include new concrete foundations and slab, new windows to match the historic ones, an elevator with a steel-clad shaft in the middle of the space and completely new mechanical and electrical systems including a state-of-the-art audio-visual system. The design is centered on the floating steel staircase built in the middle of the ramp that was used for the horse drawn wagons. The original building is the main feature and the existing structure was exposed and detailed in a way to showcase it. This project ended up winning numerous design awards including an AIA Citation Award that referred to the space as “meticulously detailed”. The space is used for fashion shows, corporate events, weddings and celebrations of all types.

Awards/News