MOLLY S BAKER

This project was completed with PERKINS+WILL

Photography: Kevin Scott

This client asked is to rethink their existing workspace to become more open, flexible, and collaborative, while accommodating an increasing employee population.

The completed design is organized with an open perimeter that supports workstation flexibility. Laminated support spaces, such as conference and storage rooms, are arranged around the existing core. This super core has then been carved away to reveal special programs and create a variety of meeting spaces ranging from single occupant phone rooms to open huddle spaces and formal conference rooms.

Color is used throughout the super core as a wayfinding tool that orients the end user to green tones on the north and blue tones on the south. This color spectrum is broken down into tones and a variety of textures, creating a softer and more natural environment.

This project was completed with PERKINS+WILL

Photography: Ben Benschneider

The University gained an incredible amount of kinetic energy after opening its first satellite location in Seattle, completed in 2015. Growth drove expansion into the third floor of the Terry/Thomas Building in the South Lake Union. Inspired by their rapid growth, we turned to Calder’s Kinetic Mobiles for conceptual inspiration.

The Terry/Thomas Building is a unique and stunning building. Its access to natural daylight and fresh air are unmatched in the city. Using Calder’s mobiles as a conceptual planning tool, while prioritizing daylight, views and access to fresh air, we designed a space where classrooms act as organic forms within the space, creating natural nooks for students to gather. Furniture floats effortlessly throughout and offers a perfect canvas for brand and identity. The Northeastern University colors pop on the clean and contemporary architectural backdrop created by raw concrete, steel structure and curved, white walls.  This space has been a great success for Northeastern University and has become a go-to place for parties and recruiting.

The success of this project is owed to our strong relationship with the University and it’s stakeholder. We were able to gain a deep understanding of their culture and create a Northwest identity from their Northeast roots.

This project was completed with PERKINS+WILL

Photography: Heywood Chan

This university is an east coast-based private research institution and a leader in experiential learning. In 2012, we were selected to create a presence for the university in Seattle’s burgeoning South Lake Union neighborhood.

Our client's new space creates a warm, open, and exciting learning environment, while bringing a new presence to the street in a booming neighborhood and business center. The project optimizes a small footprint and generous floor-to-floor height by stacking administrative offices to create a mezzanine floor with transparency between the public lounge and University staff.

Environmental considerations include energy efficient/ natural day lighting, FSC-certified wood and environmentally conscious materials with a target of LEED Platinum.

This project was completed with PERKINS+WILL

Photography: Ben Benschneider

The building is a reflection of the client's guiding principles - team science, big science and open science. The design focused on the core values of breaking down barriers and ownership, collaborative spaces and flexibility. 

The design inspiration was to create a research environment that encourages collaborative interaction in order to facilitate rapid advancements in brain research. Conventional lab organization stratifies functional uses with linear zones of programs. In contrast, the innovative design of the Allen Institute is organized as “petals” of functional spaces arrayed around a central atrium that visually and spatially connects the activities and maximizes daylight and views.

Embracing environmental sensitivity, the building and site design incorporate a holistic approach to sustainable and high performance features including extensive use of daylight while minimizing glare and heat gain, re-use of historic structures, operable windows, heat recapture from the data center, and other integrated systems strategies that earned LEED Gold certification without compromising the scientific research mission. 

This project was completed with PERKINS+WILL

Photography: Lara Swimmer + Hedrich Blessing

Closing the books on its third year, the Seattle Art Fair drew collectors and admirers from near and far to view some of the best in modern and contemporary art. The three-day event offered art fair sponsors and organizers access to a private VIP lounge.

This year’s pop-up lounge was a truly collaborative effort.  The designers and builders on the team worked very closely to create a space that could be easily modularized into a quick-to-build solution, using readily available materials that could be easily re-purposed after the event in an effort to create zero waste.  After the event, all of the materials were returned to the builder’s yard and subsequently deployed to other current projects in the city.

Conceptually, the designers created a space to “see and be seen”.  Horizontal wood slats spaced 2” apart created a barrier just opaque enough to draw interest and curiosity from the outside.  Large, framed openings placed at standing eye-level by the bar, and seated eye-level by lounge furniture, perfectly framed the VIP members, making them live art pieces in themselves.

The placement of the lounge, straddling inside and out, created a dynamic and lively experience once you entered as a VIP.  West-facing daylight poured into the space through the wood slats creating dramatic, geometric shadows that moved across the gallery floors as each day passed. 

Time was the greatest challenge and gift of this project. 

“This was the only project I've ever literally counted down by the minute. We set doors and painted walls five minutes before turnover! From nimble assembly at the [builder’s] yard to flexible craftspeople all around, our team was determined not to fail. And we pulled it off.” -Onsite Foreman

Each organization on the team donated all of their time to design, prefabricate, deliver and install the pavilion.  Not only was time donated, but all of the furniture and lighting was lent to the team by local furniture showrooms and lighting designers.  This was truly a labor of love for both art, design and the people of Seattle.

This project was completed with PERKINS+WILL

Photography: Heywood Chan

Veiled in basket-weave mesh, 21-foot high walls of scaffolding rise dramatically above gallery walls in our design for the 2018 Windermere VIP Lounge at the Seattle Art Fair. Deriving inspiration from the swath of development and materials used to support construction around the city, the design creates an experience different than anything that has been done at the fair in terms of both scale and use of materials at the temporary installation.

“The VIP Lounge provides a compelling challenge: create a low-cost, zero-waste pop-up space that can visually hold its own in an art gallery environment,” said Erik Mott, design principal with Perkins+Will (and colleague of Molly).

“We were inspired by the temporary structures found all around our rapidly growing city. With a design that wraps scaffolding in a translucent basket-weave scrim, we pay homage to the craft behind the construction.”

“Sustainability, design excellence, and social purpose are three of our core values, which is why we are committed to constructing an aesthetically pleasing space for art patrons without creating waste, and we are thankful to our construction partners in helping us achieve this goal,” said Mott.

Pine + Minor is a mixed-use urban project in the heart of Seattle’s Pike/Pine neighborhood. Optimizing the development potential of the site, the project offers 111 apartment residences, nine live-work units, 3,000 square feet of leasable retail and a 30-stall parking garage. 

The triangular configuration of the sloping site allowed for creative distribution of entries and amenities to give the project an urban feel in this rapidly emerging and eclectic neighborhood. The architectural expression is deliberately modern and colorful to knit the architecture of the downtown core with the more residential and mixed-use character of Capitol Hill. 

The complex offers eco-friendly highlights including green roofs, low-flow plumbing, solar hot water systems, and sunshades. 

The interior of the public areas, amenity areas, and residential units portray a modern aesthetic that has quickly attracted urban residents and allowed the project to be more than 50% leased within one month of opening.

This project was completed with PERKINS+WILL in collaboration with Skylab Architecture.

Photography: Heywood Chan + Pete Eckert

This light-filled town-home in Sandburg Village, Chicago is a perfect reflection of the artist inside.  We worked closely together to curate a space that inspires and invites.  All of the architectural elements in the space act as a canvas for the personal collections and art. The best part? Most of the furniture was purchased at estate sales!

This project was a solo gig.

This sitting room and bedroom were designed as part of the New York City Kips Bay Show House in 2009.  These rooms are all about texture and pattern.  Handmade drapes and bed linens add a level of detail and craftsmanship that made the rooms feel warm and cozy.

This project was completed with Lichten Craig Architects.

This project is the cornerstone of Swedish Cancer Institute’s new program and approach to cancer treatment, Personalized Medicine. 

The program focuses on understanding individuals from a molecular biology level conducting molecular profiling on cancer patients to customize preventative or anticancer therapy based on the research information rather than the tumor’s location. 

The program and physical space will position Swedish Cancer Institute as a national and international thought leader in the realm of personalized, molecularly based prevention and treatment.

The center includes an expanded infusion center equipped with a new unit dedicated for early phase clinical trials, a transplant lab, specialty pharmacy, and dedicated family lounge. The design is based on caring for the whole patient with special attention to layout, flow, finishes, and integrating all user feedback into the design. 

This project was completed with PERKINS+WILL

Photography: Heywood Chan

The redesigned Swedish Ballard GI Clinic is a fifth story tenant improvement of the Tallman building, that provides a new gastroenterology clinic to the rapidly growing Swedish Ballard medical campus. The new 6,800 square foot clinic brings consultative and diagnostic services as well as in-house treatments and procedures that deliver on a broad range of routine and complex digestive health conditions.

The planning consists of ten standardized exam rooms designed around decentralized workstations, which respond to the client’s request for a quiet patient environment. Supporting the clinic and its quiet theme are five separate patient care coordinator offices designed with patient privacy in mind as well as space for conferencing and consultation.

The interior boasts public space designed with cool tones, wood ceilings, and art reflecting the neighborhood’s Norwegian heritage.

This project was completed with PERKINS+WILL

Photography: Heywood Chan

The Swedish Hematology Oncology Clinic focuses on providing comfortable care for patients being treated for and recovering from various blood cancers. This 10,000 SF clinic is located in the Arnold Pavilion at Swedish First Hill, and it is currently in the first phase of a two-phased project.

Open-air doctors offices are designed throughout the clinic to encourage collaboration among the other doctors and hospital staff. The bench-style guest seating in each clinic room was designed to provide comfort for patients and their family members as they walk through the healing process.

This project was completed with PERKINS+WILL

Photography: Heywood Chan

This client has committed to long term investments in its two corporate office campuses. Serving over two million customers across the Pacific Northwest, they are the largest provider of their service in the region.

The seven year plan incorporates extensive renovation to existing buildings on both campuses, optimizing its finite resources and while maximizing team productivity, proximities and co-location for departments that work together. 

The workplace strategy strives for optimum flexibility, heath and wellness for over 3,000 employees within nine divisions. Planning efforts include enhancements to conferencing and amenity space that are consolidated into a centralized campus commons. In addition, open team work spaces throughout both campuses provide better access to day light and configurations that support real team collaboration in a variety of settings.

This project is currently being designed with PERKINS+WILL

These concepts are part of a marketing package we curated for our client to use in their fundraising efforts.  Understanding the cities culture, market place and the lifestyle of potential tenants was key to creating a holistic aesthetic.

This project is currently being designed with PERKINS+WILL

This modern penthouse in Anchorage, AK is all about the mountain views and cozy interior.

This project is currently being designed with PERKINS+WILL

This project is a simple refresh of each elevator lobby in our client's existing medical office building on First Hill.  A warm, light color scheme will brighten the space and bring it up to date.  Special attention was paid to ensuring all materials will withstand daily abuse from wheelchairs, carts and facilities equipment.

This project is currently being designed with PERKINS+WILL