| Historic Name: |
Nebar Supply Co. |
Common Name: |
Nebar Supply Co. |
| Style: |
Modern, Modern - International Style |
Neighborhood: |
Cascade |
| Built By: |
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Year Built: |
1960 |
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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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In the opinion of the survey, this property is located in a potential historic districe (National and/or local). |
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This historic property is no longer extant. Based on field examination conducted in January - February 2014, it has been demolished. Specific demolition date has not been established.
This is an intact and well-designed example of late International Style Modernism. It was built as an office building and warehouse for the Nebar Supply Company in 1960 and has been occupied by them ever since. The use of ribbon clerestory windows and the juxtaposition of brick veneer and concrete painted white, as well as the overhanging flat roof, are especially notable features of the design. There also seems to be the use of a proportioning system, based on basic ratios of 1:2, 1:3 and multiples of 2 and 3. The architect for the building is listed as D. Williams, probably Donald Dwight Williams, who has worked on other buildings – mostly remodels - in Cascade. This is also an example of a building constructed in Cascade and consistently used for the same industry / business. It is situated in a prominent location across the street from 502 Minor Avenue N. and close to the striking row of historical house structures along Republican Street.
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| Appearance |
| This late International Style Modernist building appears as a many faceted, but elegant box, with a portion cut away on it western elevation facing Minor Avenue. From the outside, this building appears to be a high one story building. One portion on the interior, at the northwest corner was, in fact, designed to be two stories. The building’s rectilinear plan can be seen as a rectangle, with a smaller rectangle cut away on the south side of the western elevation, to allow for a driveway and garage door delivery entrance. The roof is flat and rectangular, with a slight overhang over most of the building and a generous one over the cut-away delivery area. Also, to the south of the larger overhanging roof, is an uncovered portion of the building, expressed as concrete wall with clerestory windows at the top of it. Moving north, the setback portion of the western elevation under the overhang continues as concrete wall, painted white. It has the wide rectangular delivery entrance, just described, as well as a regular doorway. The typical ribbon windows, which wrap around the street facing elevations at the west and north, except at the glazed main entry area, also appear at the top of the white concrete wall, under the roof overhang. Moving further to the north, (on the same west elevation), is a glazed curtain wall entry area, with three glass bays set in metal frames facing west and two facing south. There is a metal spandrel over the main entry door, which is set in the northernmost bay of the west curtain wall. This entry door is accessed from a short flight of concrete steps, with thin metal railings, one of which is attached to a short, low concrete wall to the south (and perpendicular to the west wall!). A similar set of steps, with a short, low wall, parallel to the façade, also lead to the small doorway in the delivery area. Except in the case of one bay next to the main entry door, metal spandrels separate the bottom part of the curtain wall and the top part of it. Turning the corner and moving to the portion of the west façade that juts out, is an expanse of brick clad wall, about a third of the length of the entire Minor Avenue façade. Set over a concrete plinth painted white, it has two wide rectangular window openings, with muntins that occur, at about a third of the entire height of these windows, from the sill. The ribbon windows - eight of them - also resume on this part of the elevation. The ribbon windows and brick clad wall turn the corner to make up about half of the north elevation. This portion of the elevation also has two more wide rectangular windows. The rest of the north façade is white concrete, which juts out slightly in relation to the brick clad wall. The north facing white concrete wall has no other openings, except for the continuous clerestory ribbon windows. The grade rises along the north elevation on Republican Street, so that the concrete portion of the north elevation is not as high as the brick portion of the elevation. To the south of the building is a later parking garage and brick building, using the same brick cladding, window and clerestory window vocabulary. |
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