![]() ![]() Throughout the apartment, the design team found clever opportunities to interact with the unique conditions of the space, including the angled walls, low windows, and unavoidable disruption of the existing historic mechanical elevator. The space below contains a den, bathroom and primary suite which can be closed off for privacy while aligning with the views down to the city in more intimate settings. ![]() The top level, where the materiality and form of the pyramid are most directly experienced, is programmed as the primary living space with kitchen, living and dining flowing together in a single, open plan. The new 2-level layout was carefully considered to maximize space within the modestly scaled, uniquely shaped volume, and to emphasize the experience that is particular to living in a pyramid above the city. The latest renovation, completed earlier this year, builds upon the unique opportunity of living atop one of Seattle’s most iconic structures, updating the apartment into a fresh and contemporary space that celebrates the character of the building and the particularities of its history and form. In the late 1990s, the neglected and underutilized space was converted into an eccentric apartment through a 20-year lease. The lower portion of the pyramid, now the main level of the penthouse, went through a variety of uses including serving as office space and a radio broadcasting studio run by infamous Prohibition-era bootlegger Roy Olmstead and his wife Vivian, who was rumored to broadcast coded information for her husband’s rum-running operation during her children’s radio story program. The pyramid-shaped peak of the tower is the site of a one-of-a-kind two-story penthouse apartment recently reimagined by Graham Baba Architects.ĭespite its enviable position above the city skyline, the base of the pyramid was originally used for a building maintenance office, and the very top of the tower housed a large water cistern for the building’s fire suppression system, which remained into the 1940s. Today, this iconic figure in the Seattle skyline houses offices and commercial spaces topped by an observation deck on the 35th floor. No expense was spared in the construction of this ambitious 462-foot-tall building, with interiors finished in rich materials and ornate detailing. ![]() Enjoy a drink, share a plate, and nibble away.Graham Baba Architects: Built in 1914, Smith Tower was the tallest structure west of the Mississippi upon its completion. From above, you can admire the 360 degree view of Seattle from an open-air viewing deck: Puget Sound, the ferry terminal, the city at sunset, all magnificent.Ī warm and hushed ambiance, in a room decorated in a Chinese-inspired style. Five of the seven operated elevators are still powered by their original DC motors, including the one that will whisk you up to the Observatory. Smith Tower’s historic elevators were provided by the Otis Elevator Company. The small museum you pass through before going to the upper floors draws you back into the atmosphere of the 20s, with operators behind their switchboards, and offices depicted as they were in that era. At 484 feet, it was the tallest building on the west coast until the Space Needle was constructed in 1962. For a drink at the end of the day, or for a night out with friends, come on up to the Observatory!īuilt between 19, Smith Tower is the city’s oldest skyscraper. Standing guard over Pioneer Square, the historic Smith Tower is the home of an inviting bar. ![]()
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