News, commentary, and musings from GGLO.

Open House Northwest Comes to First Thursday Art Walk

2012-01-27T10:40:00.001-08:00

Rendering by Daniel George, 4608 SW Wildwood Place, Seattle, WA 98136

Seattle Joins the Global Open House Community on February 2 at the Harbor Steps

A fresh perspective on architecture, design and art comes to Seattle next month with Open House Northwest (OHNW) a new, local non-profit with a mission of connecting area residents to their cityscape.

The inaugural OHNW event will be hosted at GGLO’s Space at the Steps, 1301 First Avenue in Seattle from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Thursday, February 2, 2012, in conjunction with the First Thursday Art Walk. This event is free and open to the public. Join us for refreshments and discuss architecture and design!

Giving by Design

2012-01-23T14:00:00.000-08:00

In 2011 GGLO grew to add quite a few new faces, expanding our existing pool of skills, experience, talents and interests. As we discover more about the personal values of our staff we are continually amazed with their accomplishments and their passion for building and supporting community. The outstanding causes and organizations to which GGLOers dedicate their time are varied, from local to global, art and design to youth and education, environmental sustainability to social equity. We hope you will find Giving by Design as engaging and enjoyable to read as it was for us to assemble.

Click here to see the full version of Giving by Design

The values and spirit of generosity of our clients, partners, staff and the communities we serve drive GGLO’s mission of design for the human experience. We recognize that there are many other wonderful organizations in our community. In fact, the hardest part of creating Giving by Design was asking each staff member to select only one. We could never hope to represent all in our region, so we invite you to share with us the organizations that you support.

Thank you for your inspiration, cheers to a wonderful 2012.

"Housing Seattle" Released!

2011-12-22T10:34:00.000-08:00

The Seattle Planning Commission's Housing Seattle report release event was hosted at GGLO's Space at the Steps on December 9th. Watch the video below to hear more on the action plan for ensuring an essential supply of housing for Seattle's diverse population.

Opening remarks by McGinn Mayor McGinn and Council Housing Chair, Nick Licata

sharing their take on the housing challenge.

The Housing Seattle report shares the current conditions of Seattle's housing, compelling findings and the recommendations for a detailed action plan for ensuring an essential supply of housing for a diverse population by addressing gaps in the housing market and disparities among segments of Seattle's population. To download, read the report and share with others, click here.

Getting Figgy With It!

2011-12-05T09:32:00.001-08:00

If you didn't get a chance to join in on the holiday cheer, the Great Figgy Pudding Street Corner Singing Competition was last Friday, December 2nd in the heart of Downtown Seattle, Westlake Center. Teams of carolers raised more than $65,000 for the Pike Market Senior Center & Downtown Food Bank. GGLO raised a total of $2,800 and many cheers at the Figgy Pudding caroling event!

The Future of TODs

2011-12-02T11:40:00.000-08:00

David Cutler shares with the Daily Journal of Commerce through the eyes of an urban planner, what transit-orient communities mean for the future.

"We've known for millennia how to design public places that feel comfortable to pedestrians. Connected, compact and complete communities are nothing new. Just think of your favorite pre-industrial city's vibrant and tight-knit urban fabric."

To read the entire article, click here.

To further understand TOC's, visit our InSight Page for a copy of Transit-Oriented Communities: A Blueprint for Washington State

AIA Forum Buzz: Winter 2011

2011-11-15T11:27:00.000-08:00

Check out the AIA Seattle's Buzz section in their Winter 2011 edition! Alicia Daniels Uhlig, GGLO's own Director of Sustainability makes an appearance for her contribution to the A+D Sustainable Design Leaders Network at Islandwood this summer.

Click on the image to see the full size. AIA Seattle Forum, Vol. 4 No. 4, Page 26

The Allison is Casual Chic

2011-11-10T09:59:00.000-08:00

The 2011 Fodor's Hotel Awards named The Allison Inn & Spa in Newberg, Willamette Valley, Oregon Wine Country one of the world's best Casual Chic! Thirteen hotels around the world were selected and only two are in the US!

The Allison Inn & Spa in November's Travel+Leisure

2011-11-07T16:52:00.000-08:00

Travel+Leisure's November 2011 edition features an article by Bruce Schoenfeld on Willamette Valley's Boutique Vineyards. The article explores Willamette Valley's history as the "anti-Napa" and the changes since the boutique vineyards have been paired with luxurious new hospitality.

The Allison Inn & Spa is LEED Gold Certified

"The Allison is the first hotel in the history of the Willamette in which the phrase “thread count” comes into play." Continue reading the article in its entirety here.

GGLO on the Go: November Events

2011-11-07T16:10:00.000-08:00

November 9, 2011

Keep a look out for some of our GGLOers when attending the annual ULI Seattle: Emerging Trends in Real Estate: Beth Dwyer, Bill Gaylord, Kimberly Frank, Pamela Trevithick, James Bradley, Jerry McDevitt, Jeff Foster, and Mark Sindell. When mingling with other leads of the industry, catch up with Tom Sheldon who will be sitting with the AvalonBay Communities table!

GGLO on the Go: October Events

2011-09-30T14:55:00.000-07:00

GGLOers' October calendar is filling up fast. Take a look at what we have planned and see you there!

Photo Credit: Derek Reeves

Click on the link for an article Senior Associate,
Jon Hall wrote on the Sixth Place Apartments

October 13, 2011

GGLO is a Champion Sponsor of the Housing Resources Group’s CLOSER TO HOME Breakfast Thursday, October 13^th. Attending this event as GGLO ambassadors are Jeff Foster, Jon Hall and Chris Libby, where attendees will find out how access to affordable housing affects stakeholders and businesses.

October 20, 2011

It’s the exhibition opening night for the OUT/in/FRONT: Landscape Leading Design Exhibition October 20^th from 6pm to 9pm. Join the Landscape Architecture Professional Advisory Council and the University of Washington Department of Landscape Architecture at presentation of emerging landscape architectural developments by northwest experts. Exhibit will be held at UW’s Gould Hall Court from October 17 through October 29^th. Come by to see our upcoming projects!

October 20, 2011

Join GGLO’s David Cutler on his presentation on Transit-Oriented-Developments of Seattle and Portland. David will be speaking at the APA Oregon and APA Washington’s Joint Conference: Cascadia Collaborative Bridging to the Future. The conference is the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, OR. The session will suggest ways to plan and build great transit communities – the growing trend in creating vibrant, livable communities.

October 24, 2011

AIA Seattle will be presenting the winners for the 2011 AIA Honor Awards. Join the teams this year as we celebrate the winners this year. The awards presentation will be held at Benaroya Hall on October 24^th, doors open at 6pm.

October 28, 2011

Wendy Lamb, Chris Libby and Bill Gaylord join LIHI – Low Income Housing Institute for their 20^th Anniversary Celebration. LIHI develops, owns and operates housing for the benefit of low-income, homeless and formerly homeless people in Washington state by maintaining stable housing and increasing their self-sufficiency. We join them to celebrate their success of the past 20 years at an auction and dinner at the Hyatt at Olive 8. Proceeds from the evening will benefit LIHI’s Homeless Supportive Housing Program and the Urban Rest Stop.

Proud Sponsor of Housing Washington 2011

2011-09-27T16:35:00.000-07:00

Photo Source: Washington State Housing Finance Commission

As a proud sponsor of Housing Washington 2011, taking place in Spokane from Monday, September 26^th – Wednesday, the 28^th, GGLO will be sharing with and learning from national and regional leaders in affordable housing. Jeff Foster and Jon Hall will be representing GGLO. Stop by and say “hi”!

Beth Dwyer speaks on Reinventing Retail

2011-09-21T14:37:00.000-07:00

GGLO's own Beth Dwyer was a panelist at yesterday's ULI Seattle Panel: Reinventing Northwest Retail - Innovators & Best Practices. The panel spoke to over 100 attendees at Bellevue's Meydenbauer Center and was covered in today's Daily Journal of Commerce [sub req'd], in an article titled Landlords trying to figure out what works in retail today. The DJC quoted Beth:

Panelist Beth Dwyer, an architect with GGLO, said the key concepts to successful retail design are approachability, adaptability, authenticity and community.

Customers need to be able to intuitively see where a store entrance is and how to navigate once inside...

She said “most people want to feel connected,” which is why it's important to create a sense of community in projects.

Ron Sher of Sher Partners moderated the panel. Other Panelists included Susie Detmer of Cushman & Wakefield, Rick Parks of TRF Pacific and Dan Stroh of the City of Bellevue.

Zephyr at Seola Gardens: "Amazing"

2011-08-18T11:33:00.000-07:00

“Amazing, totally amazing… I love it.” Those of the words of Burhan Hasan referring to his new home at Zephyr in KCHA’s Seola Gardens Community.

Twenty-five new rentals opened July 29th at Seola Gardens, part of a community that will eventually offer 177 subsidized rental apartments and over 100 for-sale homes.

Read more of the coverage:
KCHA E-Voice Newsletter
West Seattle Herald
Daily Journal of Commerce (subscription required)

Seattle 2030 District Video

2011-07-14T15:43:00.000-07:00

The July 12th Seattle Greendrinks, hosted by the Seattle Office of Economic Development and the Seattle Climate Partnership, highlighted the Seattle 2030 District, a model in demonstrating how sustainability can be profitable. As a founding member of the 2030 District, GGLO is excited to share the video screened at Greendrinks:

GGLO on the Go: June Events

2011-05-31T13:38:00.000-07:00

GGLOers are gearing up for a busy month of touring, serving and learning. We look forward to seeing you out and about in June!

June 4, 2011
We're heading south to Tacoma for the grand re-opening of Norpoint Park, which features our team's designs for the skate park, spray park, playground, rain gardens and restroom with green roof.

June 7, 2011
Mark Sindell, along with Chris Hellstern and Stacey Smedley of the Restorative Design Collective, hosts an AIA COTE tour of the Bertschi School Living Building Science Wing.

June 9, 2011
Continuing its statewide tour, the TOC Blueprint exhibit is in Snohomish County this month. Don Vehige and Beth Dwyer will be there for the kickoff and community meeting in Everett.

June 11, 2011
To celebrate the AIA Seattle Community Service Award we received in May, we're putting on our tool belts to help Vision House with its Jacob's Well project in Shoreline. Would you like to join us? Contact Beth Dwyer.

June 17, 2011
It's Opening Night for the Seattle Architecture Foundation Model Exhibit, where we'll be showing our project for Pine Street Group, Sixth & Lenora Apartments. The exhibit runs through July 24 at Pacific Place.

June 23, 2011
Alan Grainger, Sean Canady, Pamela Trevithick and Kimberly Frank join our downtown neighbors at the Downtown Seattle Association 53rd Annual Meeting.

June 30, 2011
Anne Fiske Zuniga of Seattle Housing Authority and Gary Johnson of the City of Seattle, along with Senior Associate David Cutler, present a panel discussion on Yesler Terrace planning efforts at the ULI Young Leaders' Group June Meeting.

GGLO on the Go: May Events

2011-05-02T11:48:00.000-07:00

May is shaping up to be an exciting month - hope to see you at one or more of these events!

May 12, 2011

We're rising bright and early to support the kids of the Southwest Boys and Girls Club at its annual Celebration of Champions event. The Club was recently honored for having the Best Overall Program in the nation by Boys & Girls Clubs of America!

May 17-20, 2011

Principal and Director of Senior Housing Jerry McDevitt heads to Phoenix for the ULI Spring Council meeting. This year's theme is "Adapting for the Future" and promises to be enlightening.

May 18, 2011

Senior Associate Beth Dwyer joins leaders from Unico, McKinstry, Sellen Construction and Pacific Real Estate Partners in a panel discussion on creating value for renovation and adaptive re-use projects at NAIOP's 2011 May Spring Seminar.

May 20, 2011

GGLO has again been ranking one of the top companies for corporate philanthrophy by the Puget Sound Business Journal. Managing Principal Jeff Foster will attend the annual Corporate Citizenship Awards and find out where we're ranked on the list of 75.

May 21, 2011

Not that we're playing favorites, but the AIA Honors Dinner is sure to be a highlight this month. GGLO is honored to be receiving a Community Service Award (this is the first time that a firm is receiving this award). We are looking forward to celebrating with colleagues and partners who are also being honored, including Futurewise and Brigitte Bertschi.

May 25, 2011

Beth Dwyer takes her show on the road, presenting a vision for development in 2060 and beyond at a community outreach meeting for Envision Skagit 2060.

Atria Tamalpais Creek Achieves LEED Silver Certification

2011-04-21T15:39:00.000-07:00

Just in time for Earth Day, Tamalpais Creek, a California senior living community, received LEED Silver certification from USGBC this month. This project was a first on many levels - it's the first LEED project for our client, Atria Senior Living, as well as the two contractors on our team.

"This major renovation, tenant-occupied from start to finish, shows real possibilities for green renovations in senior living. We're looking forward to applying lessons learned from this process to future projects where clients seek to modernize as well as upgrade energy and water use efficiency," said Principal and Director of Senior Housing, Jerry McDevitt.

The renovation re-used 93% of the existing building and 576 tons of construction waste were diverted from the landfill. Today, residents enjoy ample day lighting through energy efficient windows, controllable thermal comfort systems and native, drought-tolerant landscaping. For more details, check out the green case study.

GGLO provided architectural, interior and landscape design services for Tamalpais Creek, as well as conducting LEED administration. This latest accomplishment expands our large and rapidly growing list of projects that have acheived green building benchmarking standards, summarized below:

4,400 housing units designed to green benchmarking standards

5,750,000 gross square feet designed to green benchmarking standards

900 housing units LEED certified

1,500,000+ gross square feet LEED certified

GGLO Honored with AIA Seattle Community Service Award

2011-04-21T15:06:00.000-07:00

We are honored to share that GGLO will be presented the AIA Seattle Community Service Award at the 2011 Honors Dinner on May 21. The annual Honor Awards recognize "leadership and acheivement in design and the built environment," for architects and partners in other professions who make a difference through design.

Executive Director of AIA Seattle Lisa Richmond commented on the awards: "Good design makes a difference, but the architectural community can't do it alone." At GGLO, our mission of design for the human experience is enriched by partnering with clients, organizations and community members who inspire our work.

This is the first time that a firm has been recognized with the Community Service Award. Brandon Nicholson of Nicholson Kovalchick (NK) Architects is the individual recipient of the award.

We look forward to celebrating along with our industry colleagues and partners in May!

See the Press Release here.

Combining Sustainability and Affordability, Greenbridge Home to State's Largest Residential Solar Array

2011-04-20T11:00:00.000-07:00

Our client, King County Housing Authority, recently announced that Sixth Place Apartments (aka Greenbridge 5) is home to the largest residential photovoltaic array in Washington. Funded with American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds and solar tax credits, the 52.2 kilowatt array is expected to generate 52,558 kilowatt hours per year after going online this summer.

Senior Associate Jon Hall, project manager for Sixth Place Apartments, was quoted in the release from KCHA:

"We're delighted that the installation of the solar array can be completed concurrently with the construction of the Sixth Place Apartments. This is just one of the many strategies we employed in this sustainably designed project to increase energy efficiency."

The Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce, West Seattle Herald, CNBC, Solar Washington, Solar Energy Industries Association newsletter, Sun Herald and International Business Times are just a few of the news sources sharing the story.

GGLO on the Go: April Events

2011-03-31T11:25:00.000-07:00

We're looking forward to sharing our knowledge and supporting important causes at several industry and community events in April.

April 1-2, 2011 2011 WASLA Conference, Bellevue, Washington

Mark Sindell and Zack Thomas present the Bertschi School Living Building Science Wing and host a tour of the project for conference attendees.

April 14, 2011 Transit-Oriented Communities: A Blueprint for Washington State, Burlington, Washington

Don Vehige and David Cutler join Futurewise, Transportation Choices Coalition and Envision Skagit 2060 for a workshop, reception and exhibit on the TOC: Blueprint, kicking off a month-long display at the Burlington Public Library.

April 27-29, 2011 Living Future '11, Vancouver, B.C.

The founders of the Restorative Design Collective, Stacy Smedley and Chris Hellstern of KMD Architects, hatched the idea for attempting the Living Building Challenge at Living Future two years ago. Stacy, Chris and other members of the Collective join Mark Sindell at this year's (un)conference to present the finished project, the Bertschi School Living Building Science Wing.

Mark Sindell moderates "Evolving the Living Building Challenge: Urban Infill Projects of Tomorrow for the Youth of Today." Jon Hall joins as a panelist along with colleagues from Vulcan and Turner.

Along with other members of the Seattle 2030 District, David Cutler is a panelist on Enabling Resilient Communities: One Planet, Living Cities, and High Performance Districts.

April 29, 2011 Housing Development Consortium Third Annual Luncheon, Seattle, Washington

Chris Libby, Alan Grainger, Jeff Foster and other members of our affordable housing group support the efforts of Housing Development Consortium with a table at its annual fundraiser.

Behind the Scenes of U Village's Success

2011-03-29T16:12:00.000-07:00

We were excited to see University Village featured in the Puget Sound Business Journal this month in "Anatomy of U Village." The article explores how the Seattle lifestyle center has evolved to become a well-loved community destination as well as one of the top performing retail centers in the country.

GGLO's Bill Gaylord has worked with University Village on numerous expansions and renovations since 1995 and shared some thoughts on how design for the human experience makes U Village a lasting success:

"It's the attention to detail, the buildings, the amenities and the shopping environment. The spaces between the buildings create intimate gathering places and the pedestrian pathways and landscaping are integrated to create a seamless, quality experience." Bill and U Village coined the term "steppingstone buildings" more than 12 years ago to shorten the distance between buildings and parking, all to enhance the experience visitors have walking from store to store through the Village.

Part of what keeps U Village an interesting place to visit is the constant change, Bill says. "There's always something new at U Village, always something to watch - it keeps the visitor's experience active."

Bill mentioned the wider appeal of U Village as key to its popularity. "The Village serves the neighborhood as well as being a destination for the greater city. It's a place where moms bring their kids and meet friends, families bring their out of town guests. The proximity to UW brings students and other young people, and it attracts people from longer distances in the Puget Sound region, and even Asian tour groups."

Many years ago, before "lifestyle retail centers" became part of the shoppers' lexicon, Bill was asked to present a case study of University Village at the Canadian Urban Institute annual conference in Toronto. "What surprised me was how many people had visited U Village and enjoyed its unique built environment, designed with peoples' experience in mind."

WWU Students Present Transit-Oriented Communities: A Blueprint for Bellingham

2011-03-03T15:12:00.000-08:00

Students in Dr. Nicholas Zaferatos' Planning Studio at Western Washington University used Transit-Oriented Communities: A Blueprint for Washington State, our collaboration with Futurewise and Transportation Choices Coalition, as a guide for their final project this quarter. Based on the various typologies of TOC communities outlined in Blueprint, students examined potential for urban infill development in Bellingham. The class will share their reports following study of six Bellingham sites at a presentation open to the public on March 8 at 6:30 p.m. in Bellingham's City Hall Council Chambers. Best wishes to tomorrow's planners on your presentations!

Gardens at Yesler Terrace Nourish the Community

2011-02-28T10:25:00.000-08:00

Every place has its hidden stories. In her article for the January/February issue of Edible Seattle, Heidi Broadhead shares one such story about the community gardens at Yesler Terrace. Spread throughout this community are three P-Patch gardens totaling 30,000 sf where Yesler Terrace residents plant and tend a variety of vegetables, many of which aren't available in grocery stores. "The most active gardeners are residents who have immigrated from Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Vietnam," Heidi writes. Within this downtown-adjacent community, urban gardeners grow everything from edible chrysanthemums to fava beans, purslane and arugula. Produce not consumed by the gardeners is shared with neighbors or donated to charity.

In order to meet the needs of community residents for the generations to come, Yesler Terrace is undergoing a multi-year planning and redevelopment by Seattle Housing Authority. While the exact locations of community gardens in the redeveloped site are still undefined, early plans call for new gardens in park areas and rooftops. As our project team works with SHA in initial planning for Yesler Terrace, we are considering how to honor the stories of Yesler Terrace's past and create places where tomorrow's stories will take place.

Seattle Housing Authority upgrades improve quality of life

2011-02-17T15:08:00.000-08:00

Today's Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce features an article, by GGLO's own Amy Hartwell, on Seattle Housing Authority's cost-effective renovations of its existing senior housing for greater energy efficiency and resident comfort. SHA is working with RDH Building Sciences and GGLO on several buildings in its portfolio. Based on criteria from Washington's Evergreen Sustainable Development Standard, the renovations focus on improving thermal, air tightness and moisture performance, resulting in greater endurance, better operation and increased comfort. Additionally, Amy notes, the upgrades better equip the buildings to "contribut[e] to the fabric of their communities through thoughtful architectural design and color palettes, and sustainable building practices."

GGLO project Schwabacher House, an SHA affordable senior housing building in Ballard, is one of seven properties that have undergone renovation. Residents are pleased with the "beautiful building" and enjoy living in a place that "looks like an expensive condominium." Job well done!

Pre-renovation, Schwabacher House, built in the 1980s, faced water damage and window failure.
After renovation, Schwabacher House features new siding and windows along with an updated color palette.

GGLO Hospitality Projects Recognized for Creating Memorable Experiences

2011-02-01T13:59:00.000-08:00

Along with our clients, we are celebrating several recently published rankings that place GGLO projects among the top hotels and resorts in the country. All based upon traveler reviews, the following rankings are a testament to the importance of both great hospitality and great design in creating memorable guest experiences:

Cedarbrook Lodge, SeaTac, Washington: No. 1 in United States and No. 17 worldwide, TripAdvisor.com Travelers' Choice Awards 2011. Trip Advisor.com traveler reviews: "In all honesty, the only disappointment was having to come home." "This is one of the best places we have ever stayed in 22 years of worldwide travel."

The Allison Inn & Spa, Newberg, Oregon: No. 9 in Relaxation/Spa Hotels in United States, TripAdvisor.com Travelers' Choice Awards 2011. Traveler reviews: "Our second weekend at the Allison and everything was, once again, perfect." "If you are visiting Oregon wine country, you simply must stay here."

RiverPlace Hotel, Portland, Oregon: No. 12 in United States, TripAdvisor.com Travelers' Choice Awards 2011. Traveler reviews: "...the setting was so lovely, we didn't feel the need to venture out." "Everything about our experience here was positive."

Wickaninnish Inn, Tofino, British Columbia: No. 4 in Canadian Resorts, Conde Nast Traveler 2010 Readers' Choice Awards.

The Inn at Langley, Langley, Washington: No. 13 in Mainland U.S. Small Resorts, Conde Nast Traveler 2010 Readers' Choice Awards.

We congratulate the management and staffs of these remarkable properties.

TOC Blueprint Featured in AIA Seattle Forum Magazine

2011-01-25T17:20:00.000-08:00

The Fall 2010 issue of AIA Seattle Forum magazine features an article on green transportation by former Seattle City Council member Peter Steinbrueck, and Sara Nikolic, lead author of Transit-Oriented Communities: A Blueprint for Washington State, a 76-page report published in 2009 by Futurewise, GGLO, and Transportation Choices Coalition. Read the whole article here, or see also the version published on Crosscut (with lots of reader comments).

The article extracts heavily from the Blueprint report, and advocates for transit-oriented communities as a key strategy for greening the region's transportation system. Included is a discussion of the award-winning Burien Town Square project, for which GGLO provided planning, urban design, architecture, and landscape architecture.

Summing up their recommded holistic approach, Nikolic and Steinbrueck write, "Clearly, the solution lies in rethinking transportation through better integration of land use and transportation policy…Transportation policies must change to consider not only the mode, but also the multiple benefits that can be accrued, such as reduced GHG emissions, enhanced mobility, stronger local economies, healthier environments, and livable, walkable communities.”

Cedarbrook Lodge Named One of World’s Top Hotels

2011-01-20T09:21:00.000-08:00

Cedarbrook Lodge was ranked No. 1 in the United States and No. 17 worldwide in TripAdvisor.com's Travelers' Choice Awards 2011. Reviewers called Cedarbrook Lodge a "hidden gem" that feels like it is "literally in the middle of the forest." The rankings were compiled from millions of reviews by travelers posted on TripAdvisor.com. GGLO provided architecture, interior design and landscape architecture for this quintessential Northwest retreat.

Read more about Cedarbrook Lodge and the Travelers' Choice Awards.

Colony Park Water Court opens in Anaheim

2010-12-16T10:46:00.000-08:00

The 'Colony Park Water Court', located in Anaheim, CA, next to Disneyland, opened on November 9th. The Water Court design was a collaboration between site artists Laura Haddad and Tom Drugan (Tom is a former GGLO-er) of HaddadDrugan and GGLO Landscape Architect Marieke Lacasse.

Image courtesy of HaddadDrugan

The design team was inspired by on-site orange groves as well as by the historic town plat of Anaheim. Laura and Tom found references to historic irrigation maps of the town, and reinterpreted them to create the design for the plaza.

The Water Court is a portion of the one acre park, located within a newly developed area of Anaheim. Though not a spray park, the Water Court showcases water and encourages interaction with the various water elements of the park. Colony Park has two play areas with water runnel, a large grass area and shelters designed by HaddadDrugan.

Historic Irrigation Map

Illustration Courtesy of The Collaborative West

On design inspiration, Marieke says, "The map of Anaheim is represented by the main streets, in dark charcoal concrete, green concrete and plantings are for fields, blue bands and actual water runnels symbolize the irrigation lines of Anaheim, coming from the Santa Ana river.” Historically, she says, “Each farmer was given a plot of land to farm, and a town lot block to develop – these 'city blocks' are represented by precast concrete blocks of various heights, which make a fun feature.” For variety, the team also added a shallow pool of water at the end of a runnel.

Image courtesy of HaddadDrugan

Marieke Lacasse of GGLO, the Landscape Architect of Record for this project, collaborated with Artists HaddadDrugan during Construction documents and Construction Observation. Other Watercourt collaborators include HoldenWater, Shaw & Sons, Atomic Fabrications, and Western Metal Arts. Colony Park was built by Brookfield Homes, working with the City of Anaheim. See the project on HaddadDrugan website.

Great video tour of the Allison Inn & Spa

2010-11-30T13:27:00.000-08:00

General Manager Pierre Zreik gives a great tour of the Allison in under four minutes:

View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

GGLO & Unico Earn Top North American Green Roof Award

2010-11-23T15:53:00.000-08:00

Unico's Asa Flats + Lofts has earned recognition as one of the best in North American green roof design. Green Roofs for Healthy Cities will present GGLO with its 2010 Award of Excellence at in the Intensive Residential category at CitiesAlive: 8th Annual Green Roof and Wall Conference and Tradeshow in Vancouver, B.C. on Thursday, December 2.

Read the Living Architecture Monitor article here.

USGBC Launches Building Performance Partnership to Optimize Building Performance

2010-10-11T16:26:00.000-07:00

USGBC’s Building Performance Partnership (BPP) was recently launched “…in an effort to optimize the performance of buildings through data collection, analysis, and action.” Owners of commercial and residential LEED certified projects are invited to participate in the BPP. In return for sharing a project’s actual energy and water data, BPP participants are eligible for annual performance reports, report cards and real-time data interfaces to aid in their building performance goals.

Who Can Participate?
Any LEED certified project (regardless of rating system) can participate.
The first phase is focused on whole buildings (LEED-NC projects), USGBC intends to integrate LEED-CI projects during the second phase in 2011.

How do LEED certified building owners and managers participate?

Visit USGBC’s BPP website for more information www.usgbc.org then click on Building Performance Partnership under the LEED tab.
For multi-family & commercial projects: Start an Energy Star Portfolio Manager account (or use your existing account) www.energystar.gov/istar/pmpam Register as a new user and start entering your project/facility data. You can add multiple facilities to your portfolio, or create a separate portfolio for each facility if desired.
* Enter at least 12 consecutive months of data for your LEED certified project in Portfolio Manager
* Using Portfolio Manager, “share” your specific LEED project with USGBC. Not all projects within a portfolio have to be shared. From the USGBC BPP website page under “How to participate” , click on the link “USGBC’s Sharing Access to ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager Data instructions (PDF)” and follow the directions.

Why should LEED certified building owners and managers participate?

Demonstrate leadership in the built environment – sharing data will help inform high performance building design
Help shape a system - While BPP is voluntary, the BPP reporting system is similar to proposals for the mandatory reporting in LEED 2009. If you would like to help shape the future of mandatory LEED reporting, participating in the BPP may be advantageous.
Get ready for mandatory requirements in Seattle - In 2010, Seattle passed an Energy Disclosure Ordinance that requires owners to annually benchmark and report their property’s energy performance (via Portfolio Manager) to the City and disclose to prospective buyers, tenants and lenders during the sale, lease or financing of property. Reporting for large non-residential buildings starts April 2011, multi-family buildings & smaller projects will report in April 2012
Receive tools from BPP to help meet your performance goals - A sample report will be shared at Greenbuild 2010’s BPP Specialty Update. Sample reports should be available by the end of the year.

Frequently Asked Questions:

If my LEED certified building is not performing as predicted, is my certification in jeopardy?
No. USGBC’s press release specifically addresses this issue - “No building will be decertified for performance or a performance gap, rather this information will be used to inform and help projects achieve higher levels of performance” http://www.usgbc.org/Docs/News/BPP%20Press%20Release.pdf
Will my building be used anonymously in public reports?
USGBC continues to develop these protocols. For the initial phase of BPP, USGBC will not share any individual data with anyone but the project owner or owner’s representative, unless USGBC has written permission. If, after reading USGBC’s BPP FAQ http://www.usgbc.org/ShowFile.aspx?DocumentID=7743 you still have anonymity concerns, one option is to communicate to USGBC via the note section of Portfolio Manager (general information → edit → scroll down to notes). However, if you have a highly sensitive project, we recommend you discuss your concerns with USGBC directly.

The Allison Inn & Spa Gets Some Great Press!

2010-09-20T09:55:00.000-07:00

Great article on The Allison and Oregon wine country tourism:
http://bit.ly/dDqfNk

Allison Inn & Spa makes CNN's international Top 9 Savvy Luxury:
http://bit.ly/dnES2O

Sustainable Design at The Allison:
http://bit.ly/a8QFjJ

Take a Tour of Allison Inn & Spa

2010-08-09T11:16:00.001-07:00

This video tour of the Allison grounds was posted on Oregon Apostille today

GGLO is Founding Member of Seattle 2030 District Group

2010-07-22T15:42:00.000-07:00

As innovators in residential design and Building Performance Evaluation, GGLO is a founding member of the Seattle 2030 District group, conceived by ZGF.

The 2030 District is a consortium of property owners, tenants, property managers, city agencies, and design professionals working to help downtown Seattle meet the 2030 Challenge for Planners.

For more on the 2030 Challenge and the 2030 District group, please see http://buildingconnections.seattle.gov/2010/06/30/442/.

Florera achieves LEED Silver

2010-07-12T09:46:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Pryde+Johnson and the Florera team on a new LEED Silver building in Seattle's Greenlake Neighborhood.

Burien Town Square Wins VISION 2040 Award

2010-06-08T14:46:00.000-07:00

Burien Town Square has been recognized by the Puget Sound Regional Council with a 2010 VISION 2040 Award. From the VISION 2040 web site:

Each year the Puget Sound Regional Council honors outstanding real-life examples of how the region is achieving our ambitious vision for growing wisely and creating great quality of life in all the region’s communities.

Burien Town Square was one of only five winning projects selected from across King, Pierce, Snohomish, and Kitsap Counties. This is the second time Burien's downtown revitalization effort has been has been recognized by the PSRC: The Burien Downtown Plan won a VISION 2040 Award in 2001.

Northwest Maritime Center Recognized in AIA Seattle's What Makes It GREEN Competition

2010-06-04T11:02:00.000-07:00

The Northwest Maritime Center---for which GGLO provided landscape architecture services---was one of five award winning projects in AIA Seattle's 2010 What Makes it GREEN competition. Designed by a team led by the Miller|Hull Partnership, the Center was awarded Honorable Mention for Cultural Sustainability.

GGLO was the landscape architect in a collaborative design process with the Northwest Maritime Center to create a new multi-purpose cultural and educational facility along the shores of Port Townsend. The LEED Gold project includes a 20,000 square foot public commons for festivals and events, custom designed streetscape elements, native planting, and parking stalls with electric car charging stations. Located in historic Port Townsend, the Center was designed to meet both the cultural needs of the historic preservation commission and the environmental needs of a sustainable building along the waterfront.

READ: Space at the Steps in Metropolis Magazine

2010-05-14T12:10:00.000-07:00

Susan Szenasy's piece on Lifelong Learning in this month's excellent Metropolis Magazine features GGLO's Space at the Steps:

In addition to the useful information I gleaned from this event, what I remember best is the venue itself. The ground floor, with its front door opening to Harbor Steps, a pleasant downtown decent to the water, is partly a meeting place..memorably dubbed Space at the Steps. The groups that regularly gather here discuss all the things that go into building great cities in the 21st century.

Read the piece here.

WATCH: Climate Change - From Crisis to Opportunity on the Seattle Channel

2010-05-14T12:03:00.000-07:00

Seattle Channel has posted the video from Climate Change: From Crisis to Opportunity on their site! Check it out

Hjarta is Officially LEED Silver

2010-05-13T11:41:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to the Hjarta team and Pryde+Johnson! Hjarta, located in Seattle's Ballard neighborhood, features energy efficient elevators, a central boiler and high-performance windows in a concrete and steel structure with an insulated envelope. Community features incluude a Rooftop Terrace/Garden, a Community Room, and Yoga and Workout Rooms.

Check the GGLO website soon for the Hjarta LEED Case Study.

GGLO at Living Future 2010

2010-05-05T16:53:00.000-07:00

Living Future 2010---"the unconference for deep green professionals"---kicks off tonight in Seattle, running through Friday. GGLO will be well represented, with staff presenting at two sessions:

Post Occupancy Building Performance Evaluation: Understanding How Best to Use Feedback to Improve Outcome
Friday May 7, 1:45 - 3:45
Mark Frankel, Jon Heller, and Alicia Daniels Uhlig

How Existing Buildings Can Save the Planet: Imagining a Development-related Embodied Energy and GHG Emissions Transfer Program
Friday May 7, 1:45 - 3:45
Dave Cutler and Michael Wishkoski

The building performance evaluation presentation will cover the latest results of GGLO's collaboration with the engineering firm Ecotope and the City of Seattle. This work builds on ongoing building performance evaluation research that GGLO has been conducting since 2006.

The presentation on existing buildings will focus on embodied carbon, and how it can help inform development decisions from the single building to neighborhood scales. The presentation integrates GGLO's internal research on the renovation of the historic Cobb building, along with neighborhood performance studies conducted for the Blueprint for Transit Oriented Communities, as well as new research on embodied carbon in infrastructure.

Hope to see you there!

UPDATE: Please see GGLO's Insight article on embodied carbon for details on the research behind the Living Future presentation.

Happy Earth Day!

2010-04-22T10:22:00.000-07:00

At GGLO we strive to incorporate the values of environmental stewardship that inspired Earth Day into both our design work and our business operations.

In the most recent demonstration of our commitment to sustainable design, on April 1st, the Allison Inn & Spa in Newburg, Oregon achieved LEED® Gold. GGLO provided architectural, interior, and landscape design services for the Allison, and also conducted the LEED administration.

This latest accomplishment expands GGLO's large and rapidly growing portfolio of projects that have achieved green building benchmarking standards, including LEED and BuiltGreen, as summarized below:

4,300 housing units designed to green benchmarking standards

5,750,000 gross square feet designed to green benchmarking standards
680 housing units LEED certified
1,300,000 gross square feet LEED certified

Click here for more information on GGLO's sustainable design efforts.

West Seattle School's 5th Grade Class Adopts Dakota Place Park

2010-04-07T11:32:00.001-07:00

Here's a cool story, from West Seattle Blog, about a 5th grade class at Tilden School adopting neighboring Dakota Place Park. It's inspiring to see a community not only celebrate but also take part in maintaining their public open spaces.

Cobb is DJC "Project of the Month"

2010-03-24T14:40:00.000-07:00

Clair Enlow's article for "Project of the Month" on The Cobb appeared in today's Daily Journal of Commerce. An urban, sustainable, historic rehabilitation, the LEED Silver Cobb Building, owned by Unico Properties, is still garnering interest and accolades several years after opening as luxury apartments in the heart of Seattle's downtown core.

Photo courtesy of Steve Keating

Climate Change: From Crisis to Opportunity

2010-03-23T14:34:00.000-07:00

We are very pleased to have hosted a great panel discussion last night at Space at The Steps. The panel was moderated by the brilliant, Susan Szenasy, Editor-in-Chief of Metropolis Magazine, and professor of Design Ethics at Parsons School of Design. Panelists included Alex Steffen, Co-founder of Worldchanging and internationally acclaimed sustainability author, speaker, and visionary; Liz Dunn, Consulting Director of the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s Preservation Green Lab, and Seattle-based developer and preservationist; and Dennis Wilde, Director of the Renewable Energy & Infrastructure division of Gerding Edlen Sustainable Solutions.

The professional diversity of the audience promoted a lively Q&A and enough smart and funny comments to stave off the hunger creeping up on all of those who bravely skipped happy hour to attend this event. Attendees were rewarded for their patience with light food and beverage and the opportunity to continue the discussion after the panel closed.

The Seattle Channel was in attendance to film the event – we will update you on details of when they plan to show it.

Thanks to all who attended for helping to push forward these important topics. Special thanks to our moderator, panelists and to the Seattle Channel.

Read more about this event at Sustainable Seattle (many thanks!).

GGLO Presents to the Portland Development Commission on the "Car Memorial Museum"

2010-01-27T17:26:00.000-08:00

At an event sponsored by the Portland Development Commission yesterday, GGLO's Dave Cutler presented the firm's concept proposal for the repurposing of Portland's Memorial Coliseum. GGLO's concept was one of 20 out of some 95 submissions that were selected to be exhibited to the Stakeholder's Advisory Committee and the general public.

GGLO's conceptual framework grew out of the desire to look beyond the building itself, and to explore how the building could benefit the entire City and region, both in the near and long term. Surprisingly perhaps, the design team was drawn to a scheme that would tranform the Coliseum into a colossal robotic parking garage, which would serve as a mode-transfer "mobility hub," thereby reducing the number of cars entering the Portland downtown core.

In the near term, transferring parking out of downtown would facilitiate densification without the burden and expense of providing parking, and would free up more urban land people-oriented uses. In the long term--say, half a century from now--when the need for cars as we now know them has vastly diminished, the scheme called for the return of the Coliseum to a civic use: The Memorial Car Museum, for which the robotic parking infrastructure would be used to store and display the museum "specimens."

For more information on GGLO's concept proposal, please see this Insight article. The proposal was also covered here, here, here, and here.

GGLO collaborating on a "Living Building"

2010-01-11T12:47:00.000-08:00

GGLO is part of a team comprised of some of the Seattle area's leading green building professionals that have formed The Restorative Design Collective to build a cutting-edge green science building for the Bertschi School, an independent elementary school on Capitol Hill in Seattle. Working pro bono, the team is designing the new science building to meet the standards of the Living Building Challenge, a "deep-green" building program which encourages projects to achieve self-sufficiency by generating all of their own energy with renewable resources, harvesting and treating all of their own water on site, and operating at maximum levels of efficiency with a healthy indoor environment.

The team has just entered the construction document phase of the design process. A building permit is expected in March, and the completion of construction is projected for November 2010.

For more information on this ground-breaking project, please visit GGLO's Insight pages.

GGLO Copublishes Blueprint for Transit-Oriented Communities

2009-12-08T14:58:00.000-08:00

GGLO and the non-profit advocacy organizations Futurewise and Transportation Choices Coalition have just released a new urban design and policy report entitled Transit-Oriented Communities: A Blueprint for Washington State.

The Blueprint is a vision and action plan for promoting transit-oriented communites (TOC)—neighborhoods that give people greater access to housing, jobs, shopping, and recreation without relying on a personal vehicle—a land use pattern leads to lower cost of living and higher quality of life for people, and long-term sustainability for the planet.

The Blueprint was launched at an October event that featured King County Executive-elect Dow Constantine, State Representative Sharon Nelson, former director of the Puget Sound Regional Council Mary McCumber, and GGLO's own Alan Grainger.

The report is the culmination of a year-long partnership between GGLO and Futurewise that included a series of seven workshops on TOC held at "GGLO Space at the Steps," GGLO's event venue off Harbor Steps at First and University in downtown Seattle. Additional info on the TOC workshop series is presented in this GGLO Insight article.

For more details on the purpose and content of the final report, Transit-Oriented Communities: A Blueprint for Washington State, please see this GGLO Insight article.

The complete Blueprint document is available for free by download in pdf format here. To purchase a printed copy of the Blueprint, please contact Futurewise.

Responses to Transit-Oriented Communities...

“Rarely is a call to action and a well documented proof of concept so concisely
brought together. This is both a powerful summary of the state of the art in
sustainable growth and a clear headed blueprint for Washington.”
—Peter Calthorpe, Principal, Calthorpe Associates

“This report makes the case for investing in transit that promotes the kind of development that will grow our economy while saving our planet. It’s a great resource for Washington State and for states and communities across the nation.”
—William Millar, President, American Public Transportation Association
“Our region has a choice: either we can mitigate and adapt to global warming by protecting our rural and resource lands and creating strong cities, or we can lock ourselves into land use patterns that diminish our water and air quality and limit our economic competitiveness for generations to come. We can do better, and political leaders at every level of government need to work to this end. The TOC Blueprint moves us down that essential path.”
—The Honorable Dow Constantine, King County Executive

Burien Town Square Wins Planning Award

2009-11-20T14:59:00.000-08:00

The City of Burien was given the 2009 Implementation Award by the American Planning Association--Washington Chapter (APA) and the Planning Association of Washington (PAW). The jury recognized Burien Town Square as "an outstanding example of a planning process 'staying the course' over time...Inspiring, daring and obviously creates a new identity for Burien’s Town Center.” Burien Community Development Director and APA Washington Chapter President, Scott Greenberg, received the award at the APA Washington Chapter Conference in Vancouver, WA last week, along with GGLO's own Bill Gaylord. Bill, who is GGLO's Principal in Charge for Burien Town Square, is excited for the national recognition that the project is getting as a model for downtown redevelopment and revitalization.

The plan for Burien Town Square creates a new heart for the community with the development of vibrant city park space, featuring an interactive water feature, a performance lawn and stage, and sustainable demonstration gardens, surrounded by a mixture of civic, retail and residential uses.

The Oregonian Reviews Jory at the Allison

2009-11-20T13:25:00.000-08:00

David Sarasohn's review of Jory is in today's Oregonian. Sarasohn calls the new restaurant in Oregon's wine country "a successful, inviting, creative restaurant, with a range new to the Oregon wine country, a scope that allows it not only to reflect but also express the region and the Northwest."

Go read the review for yourself here. A word of advice though: don't read hungry.

The Cobb wins big at Future Shack

2009-09-15T13:04:00.000-07:00

The Cobb Building was one of only three projects selected by both Professional and Public Juries to highlight as "new models for progressive urban living". Eleven projects, total, were selected from among over 70 entries.

GGLO worked with the management company, Unico, in redeveloping and repurposing the historic structure. Built in 1910, the 11-story Cobb Building made history as one of the first commercial buildings in the United States to exclusively offer medical and dental offices. Nearly 100 years later, The Cobb leads the market again by joining a select group of historic renovations awarded LEED certification.

The location of the Cobb in Seattle's core reduces strain on habitat and preserves natural resources while being close to work, recreation and public transportation options. 22% of the site area converted rooftops to vegetation to exceed the open space requirements and to provide habitat and respite for residents and their pets in the middle of Seattle.

Low-flow showerheads, faucets, dual flush toilets and high efficiency appliances were installed and a hybrid heat pump system heats & cools units. Heat rejected during the cooling mode preheats domestic hot water system to save about 5% a year over typical water source heat pump.

The Cobb is a participant in GGLO’s ongoing Building Performance Evaluation of multifamily projects in the Seattle area in order to assess building performance relative to design intention.

Read more about FutureShack and the Cobb here:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/pacificnw/2009794740_pacificpfutureshack13.html

http://crosscut.com/2009/09/15/mossback/19233/

http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=pf_output.cfm&file_id=7872

NYT: Some Buildings Not Living Up to Green Label

2009-09-11T12:38:00.000-07:00

On August 30 The New York Times featured an article by Mireya Navarro that looked at building performance post LEED certification and found that many LEED certified buildings are not living up to expectation. Why? Most often to blame were low efficiency mechanical systems and design that did not focus on energy-saving measures. Audits of post occupancy energy use showed poorly for energy efficiency. In fact, the USGBC found that possibly "a quarter of the new buildings that have been certified do not save as much energy as their designs predicted and that most do not track energy consumption once in use."

The USGBC is considering measures to combat this issue. The article states that, "starting this year, the program also is requiring all newly constructed buildings to provide energy and water bills for the first five years of operation as a condition for certification." There has also been discussion of overturning certification or withholding it until energy efficiency in the occupied building can be proven.

All of this points to the importance of designing for energy efficiency in the pursuit of truly sustainable buildings and neighborhoods. It was this realization that drove GGLO to begin tracking building performance a while back and develop our Building Performance Evaluation program and services. Read about GGLO's building performance evaluation services (BPE) here.

Read the article here. (Subscription required)

Density Done Right at Smart Growth Conference

2009-09-10T14:06:00.000-07:00

GGLO’s Sean Canady and Don Vehige presented “Density Done Right” at the Smart Growth conference last Friday in Bellingham, Washington. For this session Don and Sean showed a montage of built mixed-use projects to demonstrate density models. Specifically, the team presented two regional case studies, Juanita Village and Burien Town Square, that focus on traditional mixed-use residential/commercial/civic urban neighborhood centers while championing the design of density done right.

The session was followed by a “Plan Slam”, an interactive, thirty-minute charrette. See more about the event here. Request a copy of this presentation here.

Jory at the Allison receives first review on Yelp!

2009-09-04T13:33:00.000-07:00

Jory, the restaurant at the Allison Inn and Spa in Newberg, Oregon is open for business and has just received their first review on yelp.com (an extremely positive one). Speaking to the design, the reviewer posted that "the facility, the building itself, is amazing. Everything is beautiful and very, very high end. The cool part for me is that it's all sustainable. All the way down to the woven bamboo drink coasters at the bar."

Jory was named for Oregon's official state soil, a volcanic soil notable for it's minerality and drainage, which produces such excellent wine growing conditions in the Willamette Valley.

Read the review for yourself at: http://www.yelp.com/biz/jory-restaurant-at-the-allison-inn-and-spa-sherwood

And visit Jory at the Allison: http://www.theallison.com/

Asa Flats+Lofts Achieves LEED Gold!!!

2009-07-29T12:25:00.000-07:00

The USGBC announced today that Block 2 (a.k.a. Asa Flats + Lofts) of the Lovejoy Project in Portland’s Pearl District “has achieved enough points for Gold Rating.” The project achieved 47 points, including 9 for energy performance. GGLO was the project Architect, Landscape Architect and Interior Designer for Asa.

LEED 2009 Changes May Affect You

2009-05-28T12:23:00.000-07:00

LEED 2009, launched last month, not only harmonizes credits between the various LEED rating systems, but it incorporates substantial changes from previous versions (LEED-NC 2.2, LEED-CS 2.0, etc). We would like to call your attention to these changes.

Timeline:
April 27: LEED 2009 launches
June 26: Last Day to register projects under current versions of LEED
June 27: New projects will be required to register for LEED 2009
Dec 31: Last day of free migration period, during which currently registered projects can transition to LEED 2009 and LEED Online v3 without paying a new registration fee

If you are considering pursuit of LEED certification for a current project, or one just starting, now may be the time to register. The deadline to register a project under the old systems is June 26, 2009. The nominal registration fee may be well worth the flexibility you gain to certify under the old system with an option to switch to the new LEED 2009 system.

What if your project is already registered? A LEED registered project under design or construction may continue to use the version of LEED under which it was originally registered. Projects registering under previous versions of the LEED rating systems will have the option to upgrade to a LEED 2009 rating system at any time. Registration fees for transitioning to LEED 2009 will be waived until December 31, 2009.

Structural Changes
More emphasis has been placed on development density, community connectivity, alternative transportation, energy performance, measurement & verification and on-site renewable energy.

In general, there is slightly less "low-hanging fruit", in keeping with the green building standards becoming more standard practice.

click here for a larger image of the chart

LEED 2009 Certification Levels
Certified 40-49 points
Silver 50-59 points
Gold 60-79 points
Platinum 80-110 points

Changes to Credits and Prerequisites (a few examples)
SSc4.3 New hybrid car sharing option
WEp1 Water Use Reduction 20% is now mandatory (was previously 1 point)
WEc3 Water Reduce Reduction new thresholds: 30%, 35%, 40% (resulting in higher exemplary performance threshold)
MRc1 Building Reuse 55% added to the thresholds for which credit is given (55%, 75% and 95%)
Multiple Several reference code changes: ASHRAE 90.1 2007; 62.1-2007

Regional Credits
This new category does not include new LEED credits. Instead, it includes existing credits that have been designated as being particularly important for their areas. Six credits have been pre-designated for each zip code. A project may be awarded up to four bonus points as a result of achieving a base credit.

click here for a larger image of the chart

Are you ready for the new LEED 2009 rating system? We are!

Please contact our Director of Sustainability, Alicia Daniels Uhlig, NCARB, LEED® AP, if you have any questions. GGLO’s Sustainable Design Group is standing by to make the transition a smooth one.

GGLO Top 25 in corporate giving

2009-05-11T11:11:00.000-07:00

May 7, 2008 - GGLO received an award from the Puget Sound Business Journal in recognition of our corporate giving in 2008. We are honored to be ranked #10 of 25 businesses receiving recognition in PSBJ's "Corporate Philanthropist List" for small companies, which is ranked by total corporate and foundation giving in Washington State in 2008. Awards were announced at Puget Sound Business Journal’s Corporate Citizenship luncheon event at the Meydenbauer Center.

The awards recognize the top 75 corporate philanthropists in the region - 25 large businesses (revenue over $150 Million), 25 medium sized businesses (revenue $20 - 150 Million), and 25 small businesses (revenue under $20 Million). "Together, the top 76 corporate philanthropists (there was one tie on the list) gave more than $142 million in cash donations in the state in 2008."

See the article here

GGLOers are World-Changers!

2009-05-04T15:21:00.000-07:00

Both Alicia Daniels Uhlig, co-chair of the Sustainable Design Group, and Dan Bertolet, a member of our Urban Design Group, of GGLO were mentioned very favorably in Worldchanging.com's "Needed: Leadership From Architects and Designers" article. Read it for yourself at: http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/009807.html

Blueprint for Transit-Oriented Communities Panel Series at GGLO

2009-04-06T15:26:00.000-07:00

March 18, GGLO hosted the final event in a seven month panel discussion series on transit-oriented communities (TOC). The series was the first phase of a partnership between Seattle non-profit group Futurewise and GGLO to develop a “Blueprint for Transit-Oriented Communities.”

Each session in the series addressed a specific TOC-related topic, with a panel of local experts leading the discussion. The information and insight generated in the panel discussions will be compiled and synthesized to create the stand-alone Blueprint document, which is intended to provide inspiration and guidance for high-quality TOC, and to serve as an advocacy manual for station area planning and development. Stay tuned for further developments on the Blueprint, including a formal launch in early Fall 2009.

Last Wednesday’s panel focused on lessons learned from great transit-oriented communities, and attempted to address the question: Where do we go from here? Panel speakers included GGLO’s own David Cutler, along with the nationally recognized TOC expert GB Arrington of PB Placemaking in Portland, and Dan Rosenfeld of Urban Partners, a firm with extensive transit-oriented development experience in the Los Angeles area.

About 50 people attended the session, held in GGLOSPACE on the Steps, GGLO’s event space off of Harbor Steps at First and University downtown. The firm offers the space as an event venue to groups who are contributing to the discussion on urbanism and design in Seattle. Future events include the Seattle Great City Initiative lunch forum series, and the People’s Waterfront Coalition waterfront planning sessions.

For more information contact Dan Bertolet.

Another Successful Collaboration Between Unico Properties and GGLO

2009-02-23T17:00:00.000-08:00

The new George F. Russell, Jr. Hall, set to open in the fall of 2009 at 15th Avenue Northeast and Northeast 42nd Street, combines street-level retail, 3 floors of office space and 30 studio and one-bedroom apartments above 120 parking stalls in a bustling area of the University District. The mixed-use complex is designed to relate to the neighborhood and strengthen existing pedestrian connections. Along Northeast 42nd street, the building provides a lively, retail-oriented streetscape to connect the University of Washington with “the Ave” (local slang for University Way NE).

The project incorporates traditional materials and high quality details that respect the surrounding landmark campus and has a sustainable goal of achieving LEED certification. GGLO is providing the architecture, landscape architecture and interior design services for the project.

For more information about Russell Hall, contact Don Mackay

Historic Renovation of The Cobb achieves LEED® Silver certification

2009-02-23T16:32:00.000-08:00

The GGLO renovated Cobb Building, at the corner of 4th and University, has achieved LEED Silver certification.

The beautiful, Beaux Arts structure, with its tall ceilings, abundant operable windows and narrow floor plate, was well suited for a conversion to a 91-unit mix of studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments. A local icon, with its distinctive terra cotta Indian heads, proudly stands as the last remnant of a grand turn of the century vision to create a “city within a city” on the 10-acre Metropolitan Tract in the heart of downtown Seattle.

GGLO worked with the client, Unico, and builder, Lease Crutcher Lewis, to convert the former medical and dental building into green luxury apartments. "Building green has become part of Unico's DNA," said CEO Dale Sperling. "It's all about creating healthy and productive environments for the people who live and work in our buildings. We knew greening the Cobb would be a challenge, but we balanced historic renovation with pursuit of LEED and made sustainable attainable. It was simply the right thing to do."

The LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high performance green buildings.

For more information please contact Michael Wishkoski

GGLO Hospitality Projects Make Condé Nast's "Top Resorts"

2008-12-09T17:18:00.000-08:00

The November 2008 issue of Condé Nast Traveler features two GGLO projects in their “Top Resorts” feature. Inn at Port Ludlow, for which GGLO provided Architectural and interior design services, came in at #62 out of “75 Top Inland U.S. Resorts” and Wickaninnish Inn, for which GGLO provided Master plan and schematic design, came in at #2 out of “20 Top Canadian Resorts.”

This isn’t the first recognition for either project. Wickaninnish Inn, located in Tofino, British Columbia, Canada was previously voted the No. 1 hotel in North America and the No. 3 hotel in the world by the readers of Travel + Leisure magazine (August 2002, Travel + Leisure). Inn at Port Ludlow, located in Port Ludlow, Washington, was the recipient of the Waterfront Central Annual Award in 1995.

For more information on these projects, contact Carol Schaefer.

Taking the modular approach

2008-10-09T16:26:00.000-07:00

With growing concerns over climate change, the popularity of modular housing has been on the rise as a sustainable solution to reduce the impact of development. And with the time, energy and money savings by using modules, it’s also becoming an affordable solution, particularly for affordable housing projects.

The Tacoma Housing Authority hopes to save as much as 15 percent using modular components on its Hillsdale Heights housing community, which GGLO is designing. See release. Absher Construction of Puyallup and Boise-based modular fabricator Guerdon Enterprises are also part of the project team.

The modular development will include 60 apartments, 50 townhomes, a commons facility and green space.

GGLO and Waterfront Development in the DJC

2008-09-25T15:02:00.000-07:00

Check out Ted Panton’s article in the DJC’s Waterfront Development special section. He’s worked on several waterfront developments in the northwest and is an in-house authority on waterfront development issues, and he has some good insights and observations that will impact our waterfronts in the coming years, including:

By 2040, the Puget Sound region is expected to add another 1.7 million inhabitants. With many cities and municipalities (and their urban growth boundaries) fronting our waterways, other forms of development beyond water-dependent uses on our state’s shorelines are inevitable. What follows is a discussion of how mixed-use projects can achieve the necessary balance that this intersection of growth and ecology requires.

The full article is available here.

The GGLO Hang Out - A Street Transformation

2008-07-18T14:22:00.000-07:00

GGLO’s crack team of designers transformed a chunk of John St. into a captivating azur hangout at the Seattle Great City Initiative’s Summer Street Scene Party yesterday, next to the South Lake Union Discovery Center. GGLOers, friends, and new acquaintances stopped by to chat, eat, nurse their babies, and chill in the shade, making “The Hang Out” installation a success.

The competition asked designers and artists to “transform ordinary, identical parking spots into unique innovative, attractive and inviting urban spaces,” and a handful of GGLO’s LA group--Laura, Anne-Emilie, Marieke S R, Wilma, Kent, Zack, and Meredith--took on the challenge.

Starting with a few charettes where they mulled over what was lacking on the ordinary South Lake Union street, the inspiration for The Hang Out came from Laura’s images of laundry hanging above the streets of European and Asian cities. The group was hooked: not only is hanging laundry a delightful sight, it conveys so many important messages! Drying laundry outside saves energy and keeps greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere. It creates shade on hot July days. And, in South Lake Union, where condos and HOAs dominate the landscape–and often prohibit public drying--it puts a personal touch in the public realm.

With the addition of tables and chairs to three Breezecatcher umbrella-style clotheslines, the team created a fantastically comfortable and inviting place to hang out uniquely suited to summer urban streetlife. (Buy yours from Paul at The Clothesline Shop.)

Fremont Peak Park recognized as one of America's Best Public Art Projects

2008-07-01T15:30:00.000-07:00

Fremont Peak Park was recognized as one of the forty-five best public art projects in the United States at the 2008 Americans for the Arts annual convention. Projects were chosen from more than 200 entries across the country.

One of the events at the convention was a juried 'year in review' by two independent public art experts—Boston Architectural Center President Ted Landsmark and environmental artist Jody Pinto— who presented their choices for the most exemplary, innovative permanent or temporary public art works created or debuted in 2007.

To see a complete list of the artists and projects, click here.

Photo courtesy of Laura Haddad, Lead Artist of Fremont Peak Park

Bike to Work Month Results

2008-06-27T15:16:00.000-07:00

This May, GGLO had 24 riders participate in the annual Group Health - Bike to Work - Commute Challenge. Our three teams combined for 2648.2 miles and 236 days biked. There were 648 organizations, 1,320 teams and 8,670 riders participating in this year’s challenge – riding 1,084,745.5 miles.

Special props to Wilma Stordahl and Marieke Lacasse who took the Cascade Bike Clubs bike safety class last month, Don Vehige for rear ending a car on his bike and Zach for breaking two bikes – one from riding too much and the other from getting hit by a car.

The Cobb wins a 2008 Gold Nugget Award of Merit

2008-05-20T11:39:00.000-07:00

The Cobb was just awarded an Award of Merit in the 2008 Gold Nugget Competition for Best Adaptive Re-Use project.

The Award of Merit Winners emerged from 520 entries in the competition this year. To see the other winners in all categories, go to http://www.goldnuggetawards.com/

Congrats to the team!

GGLO Wins 1st Place at Product Runway

2008-05-19T15:18:00.000-07:00

GGLO, along with Atlas Carpet Mills, took 1st place in the competition for Product Runway, held at the Naval Reserve on May 2, 2008.

“TEAM STEAM’S” garment was constructed of 90% carpet, the interior product they were randomly matched up. The garment wowed the crowd because of the creative use of the product – deconstructed into yarn, first and secondary backing, and even some of the parts and pieces of the machinery used to weave the carpet.

Product Runway was a fundraiser for the Interior Design Coalition of Washington (www.idcwashington.org).

Arbor Day Planting with Capitol Hill Housing

2008-05-14T16:34:00.000-07:00

Each year, GGLO donates trees, shrubs and labor to one of our affordable housing clients in celebration of Arbor Day.

This year's recipient was Capitol Hill Housing's Bremer / John Carney Apartments' courtyard. In just two hours, Anne-Emilie, Barry, Laura, Lydia, Marieke S-R, Matt, Ramon, Zack and Shaney planted three trees and over 100 shrubs and ground cover; transforming the neglected courtyard into a beautiful respite.

The apartment manager and one resident helped our crew with installation, and emailed to say how "fabulous the courtyard looks and how rejuvenated the residents of the building feel having the work done".

Capitol Hill Housing thanks GGLO for our "good deeds". Our Arbor Day donation has freed up funds for them to purchase new furniture for this courtyard.

Thanks to everyone who supported and volunteered for the planting party, the Contributions Committee for supporting this cause, and a special thanks to the “select” group that carried all that soil up two flights of stairs!

2008 Earth Day with People for Puget Sound

2008-05-09T14:54:00.000-07:00

Clayton O’Brien-Smith, Lydia Heard, Anne Gustavson, and former GGLO-er Phil Cardon joined 200 other volunteers to clean-up the Duwamish Waterway during People for Puget Sound’s “Duwamish Alive!” event on April 19, 2008.

Together, they removed 30 cubic yards of weeds, planted 900 plants, and placed approximately 15 cubic yards of mulch in an effort to restore habitat for native plants and animals including salmon, beaver and osprey.

For more information on future restoration events at the Hamm Creek site along the Duwamish, please contact our Sound Stewards, Lydia Heard lheard@gglo.com or Anne Gustavson agustavson@gglo.com.

"Team Steam" takes on Product Runway

2008-04-24T10:24:00.000-07:00

Step aside, Heidi Klum, GGLO is on the runway.

GGLO’s “Team Steam” is participating in Product Runway, a fundraiser for the Interior Design Coalition of Washington (IDCW) to raise awareness about the interior design profession and licensing efforts. “Team Steam” consists of 11 GGLO staff, a student from BCC and our randomly-selected Seattle-based product representatives from Atlas Carpet Mills. The challenge for this event is to take the product we were matched up with – carpet – and create a fabulous garment for our model to showcase down the runway.

Product Runway is being held Friday, May 2, 2008 at the South Lake Union Naval Reserve. Ticket and event information, as well as a sneak peek at the celebrity judges, can be found on the Product Runway website.

www.productrunway.com

Get swept off your feet with Ooo La La!

2008-04-16T16:00:00.000-07:00

Come join us for our magical May Day celebration!

In conjunction with downtown Seattle’s monthly First Thursday Art Walk on May 1st, GGLO and 4Culture will present Ooo La La, a lively interactive two-hour-long public performance event created by artist Lucia Neare.

The Harbor Steps will be transformed into the celebratory and whimsical atmosphere of a luxury cruise ship from the 1920s, with a live orchestra, bubblegum-snapping Brooklyn bellboys, lovesick British maids, French waiters with a secret, and many more surprises from a cast of almost 200 of Seattle’s sweetest actors, dancers and musicians.

This public performance art event celebrates GGLO’s commitment and ongoing work to create great civic places for public art and community. GGLO staff will be joining the extravaganza in costume so you won’t want to miss it!

Thursday, May 1, 2008
5:30 – 8:00 p.m.
Starts at 5:30 pm at Occidental Park
Main show at 6:00 p.m. at the Harbor Steps

Occidental Park
Occidental Ave. S and S Main St.

Harbor Steps
1301 First Avenue
(across from the Seattle Art Museum)

Make this part of your First Thursday Art Walk evening!

GGLO measures post-occupancy success

2008-03-06T11:34:00.000-08:00

When it comes to building more sustainably, GGLO not only talks the talk, we’re walking the walk. Walk yourself over to Sustainable Industries magazine and read about our first post occupancy study of green features in multi-family projects by GGLO’s Jon Hall.

Should we believe our own hype? It’s in the numbers…

“Of the three buildings in our study designed to LEED standards, the cost increases ranged from 0.5 percent to 1 percent of the total hard and soft construction costs. Financial incentives available from a variety of sources cut cost increases in half and the yearly savings on utility bills averaged another 1 percent. After one year of occupancy, the green design features actually begin earning the project money.”

True measure of success (article)

GGLO examines its footprint

2008-02-14T09:47:00.000-08:00

Led by our internal Sustainable Design Group, GGLO has adopted an Environmental Action Plan to apply the ethics of its sustainable design practice to “in-house” environmental strategies. Alicia Daniels Uhlig and Amy Hartwell discuss the steps and benefits of creating an Environmental Action Plan in the Daily Journal of Commerce article, Reduce your footprint, starting with where you work.

"Even with a track record of green projects using the LEED certification program, GGLO realized it needed to evaluate its own office environment and ask, 'How can we do this better?' By examining its internal operations, the firm is learning lessons applicable to the sustainable design of its projects"

GGLO launches new website

2007-12-13T16:00:00.000-08:00

GGLO announces a completely revamped website, designed from the ground up to be reflective of the firm’s values and character. The new site features an intuitive design and several innovations that will make using the site an enjoyable experience, such as a redesigned portfolio section, a powerful search tool and, in the near future, a portal for client and employee access to shared project information.

The firm’s hallmark—an integrated approach to design—is a clear statement on the new site. GGLO has understood the advantages to a more holistic approach to their work for years, and both the organization of the site and the information on the site support this concept.

Another goal of the site is to push the personality and character of the firm forward. Many firms bury their people deep within the site, choosing to focus only on their design products.

“Initially, Clients choose to work with us because of our past success and our reputation,” states Jeff Foster, Principal at GGLO. “They come back because of our people. The quality of the experience of working together is as important to us as the work itself.”

A new, behind-the-scenes content management system (CMS) gives GGLO the power to change any aspect of the site quickly and easily. The new GGLO blog, called the “GLOG”, provides an additional forum for discussion and comment.

Mark Wainwright, Marketing Manager at GGLO, loves the new power and flexibility with the site. “During the last wave of website design, many firms created full-blown Flash sites that were neither flexible nor search engine-friendly. Our new site is bigger, easy to update, loads faster, and is literally tied into search engines.

Fremont Peak Park opens

2007-12-04T09:31:00.000-08:00

The City of Seattle held a ribbon cutting ceremony at Fremont Peak Park on November 10th, 2007. The opening was a spectacular reflection of the park’s goal – to support the surrounding community and to create an urban oasis. A cake modeled on the park, music, a clear sky and more than 250 neighbors filled the senses and inspired all visitors.

“We couldn’t have asked for a better day: the sun was shinning, we had live music, the skyline was clear – the whole site was at its best, just in time to for everyone to experience”, said Marieke Lacasse of GGLO, the Landscape Architect for the project.

Fremont Peak Park is a new 24,000 SF park in Seattle that integrates a significant stand of native trees with works of art to create an ‘urban oasis’ with panoramic views of northwest Seattle and the Olympic Mountains. Comprised of three residential lots, the site is tucked into a neighborhood high on the west slope of Palatine Avenue North.

The challenge for GGLO was to design a quiet, contemplative setting that preserved existing vegetation, enhanced access to the panoramic view, and captured the artistic spirit of the surrounding community. Three park zones, a natural meadow, a woodland, and a showcase viewpoint are connected by paths that borrow from the Greek myth of the Minotaur. Native plantings broaden habitat potential and protect neighbor privacy.

For most visitors, the view will be the motive to visit Fremont Peak Park, with art elements and contemplative and natural settings serving to enrich the park experience. The project design team included GGLO and Laura Haddad.

Stone Way Apartments and Broadway Crossing win SeaGreen Awards

2007-11-20T11:03:00.000-08:00

Adrienne Quinn, Director of the Office of Housing for the City of Seattle handed out SeaGreen Achievement Awards to Stone Way Apartments and Broadway Crossing, two project designed by Seattle’s GGLO. These honors recognized each project for a team approach towards integrating sustainable building materials and methods to promote environmental quality, economic savings and social benefit through design, construction and operation.

Stone Way Apartments, developed by Housing Resources Group, is a full block, urban site located in the Wallingford neighborhood. It contains 70 affordable apartments comprised of studios, 1, 2 and 3 bedroom units for low income individuals and families earning up to 60 percent of the median income. Sustainable design goals focused on tenant health and operational savings. The project is pursuing LEED™ Silver certification with exemplary use of local and recycled content materials. Low flow fixtures reduce water use, while Built Smart measures reduce energy consumption. Solar panels, which provide some on-site renewable energy, are complemented by a green power agreement with the local utility. The project contractor was Walsh Construction.

Capitol Hill Housing’s Broadway Crossing is an affordable housing project in the Capitol Hill neighborhood built by Rafn Company. The residential portion of the project includes 44 affordable apartments comprised of studio, 1 and 2 bedroom units for individuals and families earning up to 60 percent of the median income. Eight apartments will be reserved for households transitioning from homelessness. The design of the building places a contextually appropriate masonry, stucco, and metal facade on the streetfront with a contrasting playful, green courtyard in the back. The project has strong community support from a very involved neighborhood population. Broadway Crossing is also pursuing LEED™ Silver certification.

Bill Gaylord headlines 2007 Trash Fashion Bash

2007-11-19T09:00:00.000-08:00

GGLO’s own Bill Gaylord headlined the 2007 ISS Trash Fashion Bash, a fundraising even created to highlight waste and the need for environmental sustainability. Bill’s been involved in the event for the last two years, and his most recent created, created by GGLO Associate Jennifer Stormont and called the “Ghost of Christmas Past and Future”, was another stunner.

The Seattle Times reported it well:

Gaylord's eye-popping pants are a rainbow of used ribbon sewn together with silvery Mylar. Stormont knitted together wires from old Christmas lights for a sleeveless sweater and a turtleneck with flashing lights. They glued used batteries to a pool cue for a walking cane and included plastic disposable water bottles as the base for the fez-shaped headdress adorned with salt and pepper shakers. Materials came from their garage and what they could scrounge up from businesses and friends.

"This is a really fun way to make people think but also get creative with materials that would be thrown out normally," Gaylord said.

"Once you start brainstorming ideas, it gets infectious," Gaylord said. "It's fun, and you're doing it for a good cause to enlighten people on the day-to-day decisions that they make. It's all about changing people's behavior."

Bill and GGLO look forward to future Trash Fashion Bash events.

Photo above courtesy Hiro Davis. More great images here.

King County celebrates region's 10,000th Built Green Home at Greenbridge

2007-06-01T16:24:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, May 24, 2007, King County’s HOPE VI redevelopment, known as Greenbridge, was recognized as the recipient of the 10,000th Built Green Certification for green building. The redevelopment will create over 1,000 homes for more than 3,500 people.

As the lead planning and design firm, GGLO submitted Phase 1 of Greenbridge, known as Seola Crossing, for certification by Built Green, and in December of 2006 the project became the home of 10,000th certified project by Built Green of King and Snohomish Counties.

The ceremony honored the whole project team involved in the development and certification of GGLO's project at Greenbridge, including King County Housing Authority, GGLO, Arellano/Christofides and Walsh Construction.

Executive Ron Sims highlighted the success of Greenbridge and Built Green during the ceremony when he stated, "our goal with the Built Green program was to make building homes in an environmentally sustainable manner commonplace, and we've definitely succeeded!"