Seattle Historical Sites

The architecture firm of Grant Copeland and Chervenak designed the building for Lincoln Moving and Storage, Alaska Orient Van Service. It was completed in 1966. Baugh Construction was the contractor. This is an example of mid to late 1960s Modernism by a notable Seattle architecture firm. At least on its exterior, the building has retained its integrity. Based on drawings from January 1978, architect Thomas Sconzo was responsible for changes to the office wing, most of which seem to have been interior changes. During the late 1980s, Harvey Dodd and Associates, Consulting Engineers, made further alterations, mainly to the office wing, for the General Electric Supply Company. Stoneway Electric Supply currently occupies the building.

Austin Grant, the son of architect William R. Grant, as well as Ross W. Copeland, Jr. and Robert Chervenak formed the architecture firm, Grant Copeland Chervenak, in 1954. All three had been classmates and architecture students at the University of Washington. The firm is particularly well known for church design. Among its best known works are St Peter’s Episcopal Church in Seattle, completed in 1962 and Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Everett, completed in 1968.  Both buildings won AIA Honor Awards. In 1966, the firm won a National AIA Merit Award for the Hugo Winkenwerder Forest Science Laboratory,
located on the University of Washington campus.

This building is located south of the southeast corner of 4^th Avenue South and Holgate Street. It has a modified L-shape plan, which includes a small, shallow one-story rectangular area, designed as an office area, which intersects with a much larger and taller rectangular warehouse. In particular, the main, west elevation along 4^th Avenue South distinguishes the smaller wing. Repeated concrete forms, marked by somewhat flattened segmental arches, which form a generous overhang, are an important element of main elevation and of the smaller wing. Behind the overhangs, glazed bays are set between deep concrete piers. The entry to the office wing, located on the northwest corner of the building, is marked by a glazed door, as well as a pebble finish on the surrounding wall. The office wing originally included a row of offices, as well as conference room, set along the main façade. A general office area, bathrooms and a lounge were located on the other side and to the east of a corridor.

In contrast, the original warehouse structure, set behind the office wing and extending the south, has concrete tilt up walls, with few or no visible openings. The plan is roughly 120 feet by 210 feet. In plan, the long warehouse space is divided into 2 bays in the shorter north-south direction, by an intermediary row of 6 inch steel pipe columns.18” wide flange beams and steel joists with diagonal bridging, supporting the roof, were also elements of the original structure. The west facing elevation, set above and to the north of the main office wing façade, has a pebble finish, while side elevations, such as the north elevation, are exposed concrete, currently painted white. The north elevation is visibly divided into nine bays, roughly 24 feet in width and has no openings. Because of the way the smaller wing intersects with the larger wing in plan, the south elevation of the larger wing presents seven bays.