DocuSign Tower

skyscraper
modern
WA
Seattle

About the DocuSign Tower in Seattle
Architect and team
Architectural style
Spaces and uses
Structure and materials

The DocuSign Tower is a Modern Style skyscraper designed by McKinley Architects, and built in 1983 in Seattle, WA.

DocuSign Tower 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:

First Interstate Center between 1983 and 1996.
Wells Fargo Center between 1996 and 2013.
DocuSign Tower from 2013 until this day.

Its precise street address is 999 Third Avenue, Seattle, WA. You can also find it on the map here.

The building underwent a major restoration in 2019. The architect commissioned to undertake this restoration was Mithun.

Building's timeline

First Interstate Center

1983

Wells Fargo Center

1996

DocuSign Tower

2013

Restoration

2019

years ago

2025

2019 - The public plaza spaces were reconfigured to create a more open and accessible environment. Vegetation and urban furnishings were renewed to enhance transparency and strengthen the visual connection between the tower, the street, and the plazas. The architect in charge was Mithun.

Architect and team

McKinley 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 DocuSign Tower a reality:

Howard S. Wright Construction as the Main Contractor
Harold Jon Runstad as the Main Developer

Architectural Style

The DocuSign Tower can be categorized as a Modern Style building.

The modern style, also referred to as Modernism in the U.S. (distinct from the European Modernist movement), is characterized by minimal ornamentation, clean lines, and the use of materials such as glass, steel, and concrete. This style prioritizes functionality and the honest expression of materials and structure.

Modern architecture in the U.S. follows many principles of the International Style but with slightly less rigid rules than those of the purist European International Stylists like Le Corbusier, or even those who imported the style to the U.S. like Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius.

Modern skyscrapers often feature expansive glass curtain walls, open floor plans, and focus on volume over mass. This blend of innovation and simplicity defined the modern skyscraper, creating the sleek, functional urban landscapes prominent in mid-20th-century U.S. architecture.

The DocuSign Tower was completed in 1983. by then, Modernism had already past its maturity, and other styles, such as Postmodernism or Brutalism were already challenging its principles.

By their own nature, the Modern and International Styles can still look current, even in contemporary buildings. So that's not to say the DocuSign Tower appeared old or outdated when it was completed, but McKinley 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.

Spaces & Uses

The DocuSign Tower reaches an architectural height of 574ft (175m). It has a total of 53 floors, 47 above ground and 6 basements, served by 24 elevators, which combined offer a total of 944,565 sqf (87,753m²) of usable space.

In regards to parking space, the building has a total of 668 spots available, which roughly equals 14 spots per floor (above ground), or one parking spot per every 1,410 sqf (131m²) of usable space.

Ever since opening its doors to the public in 1983, the DocuSign Tower has mainly been used as Commercial space.

The tower incorporates three tiers of exterior plazas, articulated by a glass-roofed escalator that bridges the grade differential between two streets, seamlessly integrating the building into the hilly urban topography.

Materials & Structure

The DocuSign Tower uses a frame structure made of steel columns and concrete and steel 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.

From an aesthetic point of view, the facade features dark-tinted double-glazing glass, alternating with horizontal bands of polished pink granites, which make up the spandrels.