| Historic Name: |
Royal Typewriter |
Common Name: |
Marvin Stein & Associates |
| Style: |
Modern - International Style |
Neighborhood: |
Belltown |
| Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1953 |
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| Significance |
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This Modernist building was designed in 1952 by Robert Durham & Associates for owner Roy Gardner. It became the sales and service center for Royal Typewriter, one of numerous office equipment and similar firms that located here to be close to downtown customers. At this time construction was beginning to recover from World War II, and this low-density area began to fill with small commercial buildings like this. In 1966 it was connected to the building to the south, but it does not seem to be connected currently. In the 1970s it was occupied by an optical firm; the current owner, an accountant, has been here since the 1980s.
Robert Durham, a Seattle native, graduated from the University of Washington School of Architecture in 1936. He worked for the Federal Housing Authority during the war, and formed a partnership (1942-54) with B. Dudley Stuart to work on war housing. Following Stuart’s retirement, the firm was reorganized as Durham, Anderson & Freed (1954-80). The firm designed many banks, churches and schools, as well as master plans for The Evergreen State College (1971) and the U. S. Naval Station, Bangor (1978). Buildings include the Evergreen State College library, the AGC building (1965), the University of Washington Atmospheric Sciences building (1970) and the Horizon House Retirement Home, Seattle (1971).
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| Appearance |
| This simple one-story building has a glass curtain-wall façade with wide metal sash, extending nearly to ground level. The northern section, next to the simple entry, projects out several feet to vary the façade. The deep flat eaves extend out approximately four feet. Toward the center of the façade is a panel of cast stone, painted dark gray, as is a stone pylon projecting several feet above the roofline at the south end. |
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| Status: |
Yes - Hold |
| Classication: |
Building |
District Status: |
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| Cladding(s): |
Concrete, Concrete - Block, Glass |
Foundation(s): |
Concrete - Poured |
| Roof Type(s): |
Flat with Eaves |
Roof Material(s): |
Unknown |
| Building Type: |
Commercial/Trade - Business |
Plan: |
Rectangular |
| Structural System: |
Concrete - Block |
No. of Stories: |
one |
| Unit Theme(s): |
Architecture/Landscape Architecture |
| Integrity |
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Changes to Windows: |
Slight |
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Changes to Original Cladding: |
Intact |
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Changes to Plan: |
Intact |
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| Major Bibliographic References |
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Shaping Seattle Architecture: A Historical Guide to the Architects. Jeffrey Karl Ochsner, ed. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1994.
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King County Tax Assessor Records, ca. 1932-1972.
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City of Seattle, Department of Planning and Development, Microfilm Records.
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