1201 Third Avenue Tower (Washington Mutual Tower) - Seattle, WA - Skyscrapers on Waymarking.com

From the website:

Developed by Wright Runstad & Company, this 55-story, classically designed tower has commanding views of Elliott Bay, Lake Union, and the Cascade and Olympic mountains. The granite and emerald-green-glass building features a pedestrian plaza with three levels of shops, services and a public atrium overlooking the plaza.

The building was designed by Kohn Pederson Fox and The McKinley Architects and has received numerous awards and recognition as one of the most beautiful high rise buildings ever built. The New York Times named Washington Mutual Tower one of the nation's three best new office buildings in 1988. Walter McQuade, Architecture Magazine, May 1989, wrote "Washington Mutual Tower in Seattle is arguably Kohn Pedersen Fox's best recent work and perhaps the best recent addition to any U.S. skyline."

Seven years were spent acquiring the land, developing the plans and securing the permits to build Washington Mutual Tower. Finally, on Sunday morning, August 31, a nine-block area between 1st Avenue and 4th Avenue and Union and Spring was blocked off for the implosion of the 12-story Savoy Hotel.

At the start of construction, crews excavated seven stories below street level. Some 100,000 square feet of earth was hauled from the site. The crane that was used was the tallest crane ever created, measuring 895 feet, 8 inches tall. Construction of the Tower was completed in 18 months. The first tenants to move in were Perkins Coie and KPFF.

In 1990, the plaza sculpture "New Archtypes" was installed on the Second Avenue Plaza. This beautiful piece was sculpted by Anne and Patrick Poirier, renowned French sculptors, specifically for Washington Mutual Tower. It is considered a significant piece of public art in the city, often photographed by the public.

Building Name: Washington Mutual Tower Structure Height: 772 Number of Stories: 55 Year Built: 1988 Architect/Design Firm: Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates and The McKinley Architects Style: Post-Modern Use: Both Office and Residential Publicly accessible areas: Many restaurants and commercial businesses located on the bottom floors. Hours: Cost: Address: 1201 3rd Avenue Suite 2740 Seattle, WA 98101 Building Website: [Web Link] The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) link: [Web Link]

Visit Instructions:
To visit this waymark, you must provide a description of your experience and add one photograph (taken by you) of any part of the skyscraper to the gallery. This photograph does not have to have either you or your GPS receiver in it.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   04/25/2019 Walking Boots visited it 08/08/2016 Kladings visited it 08/17/2014 The Burrow visited it 12/27/2012 NW_history_buff visited it 12/19/2011 justmom97 visited it 08/22/2011 FLIPPER&CO visited it 08/18/2011 Der Wald-Pirat visited it 12/14/2010 Ambrosia visited it 04/29/2010 WayBetterFinder visited it 08/22/2009 Metro2 visited it 03/26/2009 TheBeanTeam visited it 01/13/2009 Celtic Cacher Clan visited it 12/11/2008 Moun10Bike visited it 06/12/2008 3Bobs visited it 08/31/2007 NorStar visited it 08/01/2007 grossi visited it 05/13/2007 Hikenutty visited it

View all visits/logs