Seattle Historical Sites

Summary for 2300 SW 7TH AVE SW / Parcel ID 0697000400 / Inv # 0

Historic Name: British Motor Car Distributors Common Name: Arai Jackson Ellison Murakami Style: Modern - Curtain Wall Neighborhood: Denny Triangle Built By: Year Built: 1965   Significance This concrete-and-glass curtain wall building was constructed in 1965 for British Motor Car Distributors. This area of the last Denny Regrade (1929-30), east of Fifth Avenue, was completed just as the Depression began and came to be occupied primarily by low-density uses such as auto dealerships. This use continued to thrive into the 1980s. This is a typical example of the modern auto dealership, with expansive glass walls and a garage, although its high architectural quality is unusual. Most auto dealerships have left this area, and this now serves as offices of an architectural firm. The auto entrance in the center of the façade, which provided access to the showrooms on each side, has been converted to a landscaped entry courtyard.   Appearance This distinctive Modernist building reads as two glass curtain-wall pavilions separated by a recessed entry courtyard in the center of the main (west) façade. The courtyard is landscaped with bamboo. The flat roof extends about two feet from the glass walls, supported by plain concrete columns. These columns, four on each half of the building, provide a strong Classical feeling and a vertical element to counteract the building's overall horizontality. The space between the columns and the wall contains a planter with bamboo, which reflects the vertical columns and slightly obscures the glass wall. At the north end is a covered platform that opened onto the original sales lot. The building is on a slope, with a partial lowerr floor and a garage below the building on the east (rear), accessed from the alley. Above the garage entry is an open rear deck with a metal railing.

Detail for 2300 SW 7TH AVE SW / Parcel ID 0697000400 / Inv # 0

Status: Yes - Inventory Classication: Building District Status: Cladding(s): Concrete, Concrete - Block, Glass - Curtain Wall Foundation(s): Concrete - Poured Roof Type(s): Flat Roof Material(s): Unknown Building Type: Transportation - Road- Related Plan: Rectangular Structural System: Concrete - Block No. of Stories: one Unit Theme(s): Architecture/Landscape Architecture, Transportation Integrity Changes to Windows: Intact Changes to Original Cladding: Intact Changes to Plan: Slight Major Bibliographic References King County Tax Assessor Records, ca. 1932-1972. Sheridan, Mimi, “Historic Context Statement, Belltown," 2007.

Photo collection for 2300 SW 7TH AVE SW / Parcel ID 0697000400 / Inv # 0

Photo taken Mar 18, 2007