| Historic Name: |
Seattle Post-Intelligencer |
Common Name: |
Group Health Cooperative |
| Style: |
Art Deco - Streamline Moderne |
Neighborhood: |
Belltown |
| Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1947-48 |
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| Significance |
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This building was originally the home of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the city’s oldest newspaper. It dated back to the 1867 founding of the Intelligencer, which combined with the Post in the 1880s. The paper was purchased by the Hearst Corporation in 1921 and remains under that ownership today ("Joint Operating Agreement goes into effect," www.historylink.org).
This distinctive office building and printing plant was designed in 1947 (permit #377444) and clearly reflects the Moderne aesthetic that was popular at the time, particularly for this type of industrial building. It was designed by the prominent New York industrial engineering firm of Lockwood Greene, with Henry Bittman as the local associate architect. Lockwood Greene (now a subsidiary of CH2M Hill) is the country’s oldest design firm, founded in 1832, and probably had extensive experience in meeting the specific needs of a major newspaper printing plant. The building has been altered a number of times as needs changed. The interior was remodeled in 1961, reducing the size of the auditorium to add offices. In 1969 NBBJ designed a new third floor and penthouse addition with a roof deck, including structural upgrades throughout the building. In 1983 the Post-Intelligencer entered into a joint operating agreement with the rival Seattle Times, under which the Times handles printing, advertising and circulation. Since the paper no longer needed its own printing plant, the P-I offices moved to the Seattle waterfront. The paper took with it the building’s most distinctive feature, a massive globe encircled with the words “Read the P-I,” which was installed on the new building.
This building was purchased by the Sabey Corporation and, in 1987, corporate architects altered the building to office use. It has been occupied by Group Health Cooperative offices since that time. Alterations included a new entry on Fifth Avenue, enclosure of the loading dock on the west elevation and construction of internal atriums. The windows have also been replaced.
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| Appearance |
| The P-I building occupies an entire block, with a monumental rounded entry pavilion at the northeast corner. The building is of concrete construction faced with large blocks of smooth sandstone, with polished black granite below the first floor windows. The basic form is two stories, with a set-back third story with roof decks. The round entry pavilion rises about two stories above the main part of the building; its front is entirely glazed, with newer windows. This pavilion originally served as a fitting base for the large globe that was the paper’s emblem. Each elevation has windows of dark glass on the first and second stories, all with newer metal sash. Panels of polished black granite between each group of windows gives the impression of continuous bands of black, with narrow bands of aluminum emphasizing the horizontality. The west elevation on Fifth Avenue, which once had an expansive loading dock, has been enclosed with a new entrance. A large mechanical penthouse (apparently) extends above the roofline. |
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