| Historic Name: |
Logan Building |
Common Name: |
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| Style: |
Modern - International Style |
Neighborhood: |
Commercial Core |
| Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1958 |
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| Significance |
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In the opinion of the survey, this property appears to meet the criteria of the National Register of Historic Places. |
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In the opinion of the survey, this property appears to meet the criteria of the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Ordinance. |
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This property is directly associated with a crucial period (1950-1966) during which downtown commercial redevelopment began to occur after nearly thirty years of stagnation as several major modern municipal government and commercial buildings were constructed. However, compared with massive post-war suburban real estate development, relatively few new buildings were constructed in downtown Seattle until the late 1950s. Major modern construction included the Public Safety Building (1951, destroyed), Seattle Public Library (1956-59, destroyed) and the Municipal Building (1959-61, destroyed), as well as the expansions of the two major downtown department stores. Scattered major commercial construction included several notable extant buildings that reflect modern zoning changes and architectural trends including: the Norton Building (1958); the Logan Building (1959); the Washington Building (1960) and the IBM Building (1961-64). The Seattle World’s Fair - Century 21 Exposition was held in 1962 and triggered the remodeling of older buildings and the construction of the monorail, and tourist-oriented restaurants and motels. Throughout this era older buildings were demolished to make way for surface parking lots and garages and for interstate freeway construction.
The Logan Building was designed by the Seattle architecture and engineering firm Mandeville and Berge in collaboration with the New York based architecture firm of Emery Roth and Sons. Gudmund Brynjulv Berge graduated from the University of Washington, School of Architecture in 1950 and went on to open his own architectural practice in partnership with Gilbert Mandeville in 1957. The firm provided both architectural and engineering services with Berge as its lead designer and architect and Mandeville as its registered engineer. Although the Logan building is the firms best known work, later work by the firm included the Encyclopedia Americana Building (1960) in Seattle, the Ballard Library (1964), and the infamous “Sinking Ship Garage” in Pioneer Square (1965).
Emery Roth immigrated to the United States from Slovakia at age 13 and went on to design many of the definitive New York City hotels and apartment buildings of the 1920s and 30s, incorporating Beaux-Arts and Art Deco details. He began his architectural apprenticeship as a draftsman in the Chicago offices of Burnham and Root, working on the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893. There he met Richard Morris Hunt and moved to New York to work in his offices. He later worked in the office of Ogden Codman Jr. before establishing his own independent practice. After his death in 1948, his sons Julian and Richard and grandson Richard Roth Jr. carried on his practice as Emery Roth and Sons. Work from the firm includes numerous projects throughout New York City including synagogues, middle class apartment housing, upper class apartment buildings near Central Park, as well as numerous high-rise office towers from this era. The firms designs for the Look Building (488 Madison Avenue, 1950), an office building at 40 Park Avenue (1950) and the Hahn Kook Center (460 Park Avenue, 1955) are considered to be among 35 modern landmarks in New York City.
The Logan Building was developed by the Antero Company, a local real estate development entity that was formed by the Bullitt Company and Bagley Wright in order to undertake the construction of this building, as well as to own and to operate it. The building, including the purchase of the land, cost an estimated $3.75 million to construct. General contractors Howard S. Wright and Company began construction in April of 1958 and the project took about a year to complete. The building replaced the Sheldon Hotel, built in 1911, and the Russell Building, built in 1924, that were both torn down in 1957 to make way for this modern office building. At the time of its construction, the new building towered over the neighboring commercial buildings.
The Logan Building is reinforced concrete construction with curtain walls of porcelainized steel, glass and aluminum. It is one of the city’s first International Style buildings designed to incorporate the modern curtain wall system. This allowed for a wide open floor plan at each level to accommodate range of tenants and physical layout requirements. At the time of its construction, the Logan Building was considered to be ultra-modern with a complete air conditioning system, high speed, operator-less elevators, and tinted window glazing.
The building also incorporated public art chosen from a nationwide design competition.
Judges for the competition included Mrs. A. Scott (Dorothy) Bullitt, president of KING Broadcasting; Dr. Richard E. Fuller, director of the Seattle Art Museum; Gilbert Mandeville and Boyer Gonzales, dean of the UW School of Art. The winning piece, “The Morning Flight,” created by Archie Graber of Wallace, Idaho, represented two graceful swans in swift motion. The sculpture was executed in hammered bronze and installed in the building lobby with a reflecting pool at its base. The theme of the building was said to be represented in the free form of the modern art.
The Logan Building is a well-preserved example of an important mid-century commercial highrise property type. It is a notable example of International Style architectural design and one of only seven extant downtown buildings dating from this era. It was designed by a notable local architecture firm, Mandeville and Berge, in collaboration with the highly notable New York City based firm of Emery Roth and Sons.
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| Appearance |
| This prominent mid-century modern, ten-story office building is located on the NE corner of Fifth Avenue and Union Street. It is one of a small group of extant downtown office buildings associated with the International Style and reflecting the design influences of Mies van der Rohe.
It measures approximately 115’along Fifth Avenue and 120’ at Union Street with a distinct two-story base. The formal building entry is via an entrance vestibule and lobby at Union Street. The crisp rectangular form of the building shaft and curtain wall construction rises above a two-part base, accentuated by a band of 2nd story window bays that correspond with street level storefronts. The 2nd floor level windows are divided into bays by prominent white travertine-clad structural piers; five at Fifth Avenue and six at Union Street. Original aluminum sash remains in place. The storefront level was originally clad with black marble and possibly structural glass. The base now exhibits only black polished marble panels. Storefront fenestration and bulkheads appear to have been partly modified and updated. The original two-story recessed entry vestibule appears to be mostly intact; it is clad with black marble with white travertine at the entry wall. Bronze raised letter signage stating “logan building” is located above the glass and bronze entry door assembly.
The building does not include internal parking levels. The elevator and service core runs from the concrete basement level up to the mechanical penthouse at the center of the building. Each floor level from the 2nd through the 10th floor was designed to be column free around the central elevator/service core to provide for open and flexible office space.
The composite structural steel and concrete construction includes pre-stressed concrete and long span modular concrete members. The building is one of the first built in Seattle to use innovative curtainwall construction and utilized dark-blue porcelainized steel, glass and aluminum spandrel and window panel units. The curtainwall window panels are anodized aluminum frames with a varied three-part and single plate glass confirmation.
At the east face of entry vestibule is an inscribed marble plaque that states “Mandeville and Berge Architects and Engineers 1959.” Original interior finishes within the elevator lobby include white marble and black granite cladding, gray terrazzo floors and dark-blue and gray porcelainized steel wall panels. An original building directory also remains in place. A bronze sculpture that was originally located within a reflecting pool in the lobby area is no longer in place. There may be other intact or architecturally significant interior features and finishes and additional field investigation may be warranted. |
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| Status: |
Yes - Inventory |
| Classication: |
Building |
District Status: |
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| Cladding(s): |
Glass - Curtain Wall, Stone - Ashlar/cut |
Foundation(s): |
Concrete - Poured |
| Roof Type(s): |
Flat |
Roof Material(s): |
Unknown |
| Building Type: |
Commercial/Trade - Professional |
Plan: |
Square |
| Structural System: |
Steel |
No. of Stories: |
ten |
| Unit Theme(s): |
Architecture/Landscape Architecture, Commerce |
| Integrity |
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Changes to Interior: |
Intact |
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Changes to Plan: |
Intact |
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Other: |
Moderate |
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Changes to Windows: |
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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"Office Building, Site to Cost $3,750,000" Seattle Times September 22, 1957.
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