Union Stables

Union Stables

Seattle, WA

Union Stables was constructed in 1909 as an urban horse stable near Pike Place Market and downtown Seattle. The building had internal ramps to allow horses to be led from floor to floor, and a large terra cotta horse head relief at the top of the facade celebrated the building’s function. By the 1920s automobiles replaced horse-drawn transport, and the building was used as a parking garage, an auto body shop, and a furniture warehouse. Subsequently damaged by earthquakes, fire, and deferred maintenance, the building was vacant and in serious disrepair by the 1990s.

Now the completed renovation has preserved the building and transformed it for contemporary office use with a seismic retrofit, a restored facade, an added fifth floor, new exit stairs, elevator, restrooms, and new mechanical and electrical systems throughout.

The design meets the stringent standards of the U.S. Government’s Certified Rehabilitation Program, and the project has achieved Historic Tax Credits. Special care was taken to preserve as much of the original character of the building as possible. The original brick walls and the heavy timber structure remain exposed inside the building, and the original carriage door entries at the center of the main façade have been retained. Replacement windows were designed to have as much fidelity as possible to the original windows, including proportion, divisions, mullion shape, and color. The new fifth floor was carefully designed to minimize its visibility from the street and to compliment the massing and the proportions of the historic building below it.

Union Stables is a Seattle Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The project is certified LEED Gold.

Recognition
Washington State Historic Preservation Office Awards, Outstanding Achievement in Historic Preservation, 2015

NAIOP Commercial Real Estate Development Association, Washington State Chapter, Redevelopment / Renovation of the Year, 2015

Seattle 2030 District, 2030 Vision Award: Leadership, 2017

Photography: Lara Swimmer

Client
Allegra Properties

Data
64,000 sf

Completed
2015

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