The guestrooms are furnished with custom furniture designed by Wittman Estes. The furniture draws from the hotel’s mid-century vibe and brings a sense of home to each room. A simple and durable palette of maple plywood, colored laminate and tube steel provide high-strength, low-maintenance furnishings. A custom headboard, writing desk and wardrobe give the rooms a clean, bright and warm feeling. Single-curve finger pulls on drawer faces draw from classic mid-century furniture design. Our team chose simple blues, whites and wood tones to evoke a feeling of minimalism and calm. “The light and reflections of the urban landscape around the hotel were brought into the interior design,” Estes notes.
In addition, large expanses of glass were cut into the rooms to make indoor-outdoor connections. Working with the existing bones of the building, we found strategic moments for visual delight and views to nature outside.
The guestroom corridors originally were dark and dreary. Our team reimagined the corridors with a “front porch” concept, in which each room has a light above the door and a carpet-tile welcome mat draws the eye to each door. Flush trimless steel jambs with bomber hinges provide a highly durable but minimalist detail around each door entry.
“We understand the importance of heritage, family and tradition and celebrate it like no other property in Seattle,” Nariya explains. “Although the hotel is anchored by its incredible history, we’ve updated for the new millennium. We made an intimate boutique hotel that combines the polish of a luxury property with the comfort of your neighborhood hangout.”
A Hotel for Today and Tomorrow
When the global pandemic impacted travel and hotels in early 2020, the Civic Hotel transitioned to an emergency shelter. In coordination with King County and the Salvation Army, the Civic Hotel is housing 50 residents from local shelters.
The easily cleaned and durable carpets, fixtures and custom plywood furniture lent a quick transition to a highly sanitized and healthy shelter. Pragmatic design solutions brought high design impact for low cost. We designed for high strength and low maintenance.
An open floor plan and flexible spaces allow for a number of activities that suit a new urban hotel—and emergency housing during a pandemic. The public-health benefits of fresh air, light and minimalism that underpinned modernism make an adaptable and resilient architecture that looks to the future.
PHOTOS: Nic Lehoux unless otherwise noted
Retrofit Team
Architect and Landscape Architect: Wittman Estes Architecture+Landscape
- Matt Wittman, AIA, LEED AP
- Jody Estes
- Naomi Javanifard
Structural Engineer: Fossatti Pawlak
Interior Furnishings and Lighting: Inform Interiors
Builder: Baker Construction & Development Inc.
Materials
Large-format Porcelain Tile: Iris Ceramica
Maple Plywood Furniture with Colored Laminate Faces: Nu Design
Aluminum Storefront Windows and Doors: Kawneer
Anodized Aluminum Accordion Doors: LaCantina Doors
Steel Stairs with Solid Fir Treads: Baker Construction & Development Inc.
Glass Guardrails with Stainless-steel Handrails: C.R. Laurence Co. Inc.
Carpet Tiles: FLOR and Interface
Sconce Lights in Guestrooms: AJ by Louis Poulson
Batu Hardwood Exterior Decking, Benches and Screenwall: Baker Construction & Development Inc.
Planting Materials: Carex grasses, Gingko trees and Acanthus mollis