| Historic Name: |
Washington State Liquor Store |
Common Name: |
Gilbert and Sullivan Society |
| Style: |
Beaux Arts - Neoclassical, Commercial, Other |
Neighborhood: |
South Lake Union |
| Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1928 |
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| Significance |
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In the opinion of the survey, this property is located in a potential historic districe (National and/or local). |
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This small building dates from 1928. It is typical of 1920s and 1930s warehouses built in the South Lake Union area. Typical of their design is the symmetrical composition, cladding in brick, usually rug brick in a variety of browns, raised parapets, pilasters signaling the edges of a bay or of the façade, cast stone trim and clerestoried storefronts. Ornamental shields in cast stone usually accentuate the center of the façade or of a particular bay. Despite changes to the storefronts, the building façade retains enough of its general shape and architectural detailing to be significant.
Several of these types of buildings were designed by architect W. R. Grant and often for the same client A.J. Eberharter; however, despite the similarities with other work by W. R. Grant, there are no documents that prove his authorship. There are extant drawings, however, that show changes to the building’s interior, first by Architect Donald N. McDonald in 1939 and then by Architect Merrill S. Rich in 1954, who remodeled it for use by a Washington State Liquor Store. Rich’s drawings also show that he also intended to remodel the storefronts to their present configuration, although he appears to have covered the clerestory lights. Tenant improvements by Shavey McManigal Architects in 1991 for Washington State Natural Gas revealed the central clerestory.
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| Appearance |
| This is a one story building, with one main façade. Clad mainly in rug brick, with ornamental trim in cast stone, the façade has a symmetrical tripartite composition, with a raised gabled parapet over the central bay. The edges of each bay and of the facade are marked in plan by a staggered thickening in the wall, (a truncated T-shape), expressed visually in elevation as engaged pilasters. The pilasters have cast stone bases, brick shafts and stylized cast stone terminations, consisting of a taller rectangle in elevation, (set over the thickest portion of the pilaster shaft), flanked by two smaller rectangles, where the wall thickness recedes back toward the wall. These cast-stone pilaster terminations stop below the lowest point of the façade parapet. Between pilasters, each bay has a storefront, which originally had clerestory lites. The top of the storefront opening is emphasized by a horizontal stretcher course. The actual storefront frames and glass have been mostly replaced within the original openings, although the central bay has wooden multi-pane clerestory in wood frame.
Accentuating the symmetrical design and the gabled parapet is a cast-stone shield decoration, set at the center of the façade, above the storefronts and along the centerline of the angled parapet. |
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| Status: |
Yes - Inventory |
| Classication: |
Building |
District Status: |
INV |
| Cladding(s): |
Brick, Concrete, Stone - Cast |
Foundation(s): |
Concrete - Poured |
| Roof Type(s): |
Flat with Parapet |
Roof Material(s): |
Asphalt/Composition |
| Building Type: |
Commercial/Trade - Warehouse |
Plan: |
Rectangular |
| Structural System: |
Concrete - Poured |
No. of Stories: |
one |
| Unit Theme(s): |
Architecture/Landscape Architecture, Manufacturing/Industry |
| Integrity |
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Storefront: |
Moderate |
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Changes to Plan: |
Intact |
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Changes to Original Cladding: |
Intact |
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| Major Bibliographic References |
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King County Property Record Card (c. 1938-1972), Washington State Archives.
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City of Seattle, Department of Planning and Development, Microfilm Records.
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