Kolstrand Building / Graham Baba Architects

The Kolstrand Building is an adaptive reuse of a 1910 marine supply building in the industrial neighborhood of Ballard. The upgraded building stretches the urban core south with a mix of new services: offices, retail and restaurant space. (1 retail/cafe, 3 restaurants, 4 commercial offices, and 1 wine storage) The goal of adaptive reuse of the historically significant building is to preserve a vernacular that is quickly disappearing in Ballard.

The Kolstrand Building designed by Graham Baba Architects received a 2010 AIA Seattle Design Award for Washington Architecture – Commendation. Follow the break for drawings and photographs of this mixed use building.

Architects: Graham Baba Architects
Location: Seattle, Washington, USA
General Contractor: CDB General Contractors LLC
structural engineer: Swenson Say Fagét
Civil Engineer: Saez Consulting Engineers
Energy Consultant: Ecotope Inc
Geotechnical Engineers: Pan Geo Inc
Mechanical Contractor: Emerald Aire
Structural Steel Fabricator: Lincoln Industrial
Developer: 4743 Ballard Avenue LLC
Project Year: 2010
Project Area: 17,790 sqf

Located near the Burke Gilman Trail and bus transit, the development increases alternate forms of transportation and walkability. New transparent storefronts inserted into the existing building open the interior to the streetscape and encourage pedestrian activity. Sidewalk cafes create outdoor “living rooms”. The scale of the building has been broken down from it’s industrial past to its pedestrian friendly future.

The fabric of the original building has been maintained and enriched by modern details to create a place that describes the past, present and future all at once. The penthouse office suite addition is carefully placed on top of the existing roof in consideration of the scale of the neighborhood while adding more square footage.

The addition was analyzed and positioned with consideration of the solar orientation and double story heights to assist in natural ventilation. Despite the water view to the west, west windows are carefully sized to reduce solar heat gain. The project creatively reused salvaged and reclaimed materials throughout the project as partitions, interior wall finishes, cabinets and countertops, to meet its tight budget.