Columbia Center

The Columbia Center is a Modern Style skyscraper designed by Chester Lindsey Architects, and built between 1982 and 1985, for a reported $200 million dollars, in Seattle, WA.

Columbia Center is not the only name you might know this building by though. It is common for companies to want to attach their names to iconic buildings when they move in, or for the general public to come up with nicknames, and this one is no exception. The building has changed names several times over the years, and is also known as:

• Bank of America Tower between 1985 and 2005.
• Columbia Seafirst Center.

Its precise street address is 701 5th Avenue, Seattle, WA. You can also find it on the map here.

The building has been restored 2 times over the years to ensure its conservation and adaptation to the pass of time. The main restoration works happened in 2013 and 2018.

Chester Lindsey Architects was the architecture firm in charge of the architectural design.

That being said, architecture is a complex discipline involving many professionals from different fields, without whom this building would have not been possible. We will surely be leaving out a lot of names here, but here is a list of the people we do know also played their part in making the Columbia Center a reality:

• Magnusson Klemencic Associates and Leslie El Robertson & Associates in charge of Structural Engineering
• Howard S. Wright Construction as the Main Contractor
• Otis Elevator Company as the company in charge of the elevators system
• Martin Selig as the Main Developer

The Columbia Center can be categorized as a Modern Style building.

By their own nature, the Modern and International Styles can still look current, even in contemporary buildings. So that's not to say the Columbia Center appeared old or outdated when it was completed, but Chester Lindsey Architects certainly did not take many risks when it came to choosing the design style. This made the building look more "classic" and integrated within the city's architecture.

The Columbia Center uses a frame structure made of steel columns and poured concrete over metal decking slabs.

A frame structure uses a combination of beams and columns to sustain the building's weight. The walls in this case are non-load bearing, which allows for more flexibility when distributing the interior spaces.

The facade uses a non-load bearing curtain wall system. This means the curtain wall modules are anchored to the building's structural frame, typically by being attached to the edge of the floor slabs. The curtain wall system connects to the slabs using brackets, anchors, and mullions, which transfer the loads imposed by wind and temperature changes, to the building's primary structural elements.

This setup allows the curtain wall to accommodate differential movement between the facade and the structural frame, such as thermal expansion, floor deflection, or sway from wind forces. This system's integration with the slab edges also allows for continuous insulation and weatherproofing layers.

Following the perimeter of the three curved sections, the engineers designed a braced triangular core connected to three composite construction columns, which stabilizes it and increases its strength. Viscoelastic dampers were installed at the top to control seismic and wind-induced movements.

From an aesthetic point of view, the facade features dark glass with dark metal spandrels. The different reflectiveness of the glass vs. the metal creates a subtle horizontal striped pattern.

The three lower levels are clad in pink granite.