GSA Seattle Federal Office Building Exterior Assessment

The nine-story, 1933 Federal Office Building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as one of the earliest federal buildings designed in the Art Deco style. It occupies a full block of downtown Seattle and had never seen a comprehensive restoration. Determining the envelope needs was challenging because of the irregularity and volume of selective repairs over an 80-year period, the building’s complex form and materials, deferred maintenance, and access limitations.

Hennebery Eddy’s historic resources group used multiple access methods — including boom lifts, boson chairs, and roof tops — to perform an exterior condition assessment of the terra cotta, brick, granite, steel windows, and aluminum spandrel panels. Our Project Development Study offered feasible, best-practice conservation strategies for the repair and restoration of specific materials and components. Recommendations detailed through comprehensive narratives, diagrammatic graphics, and cost estimates aided the U.S. General Services Administration in vetting the options. We also provided a design-build implementation plan for the preferred treatments.

Historic images courtesy GSA