Seattle Municipal Tower is a 62-story skyscraper located at 700 5th Avenue at the corner of 5th Avenue and Columbia Street in downtown Seattle, Washington. Rising to 220.07 m (722.0 ft), it is the fourth tallest high-rise building in Seattle. At its completion in 1990, the building was named AT&T Gateway Tower and later changed to Key Bank Tower reflecting the names of former anchor tenants AT&T and Key Bank. On 17 May 2004, the tower's name was officially changed to the current moniker.
| Seattle Municipal Tower | |
|---|---|
 | |
 | |
| Former names | AT&T Gateway Tower Key Bank Tower |
| General information | |
| Type | Government offices |
| Location | 700 Fifth Avenue Seattle Civic Center Seattle, Washington, USA |
| Construction started | 1987 |
| Completed | 1990 |
| Owner | City of Seattle |
| Management | CB Richard Ellis |
| Height | |
| Roof | 220.07 m (722.0 ft) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 62 |
| Floor area | 92,024 m2 (990,540 sq ft) |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) | Bassetti Architects |
| Main contractor | University Mechanical Contractors |
| References | |
| [1][2][3] | |
The building is attached to the Seattle Civic Center complex and is owned by the city, and houses several government offices including the Department of Planning and Development, Seattle City Light, Seattle Public Utilities, the Department of IT, Human Services Department, and the Office of Economic Development.[4]
The Seattle City Council and offices of the Mayor of Seattle are located in the nearby Seattle City Hall.
Design
The Municipal Tower was designed by Bassetti Architects, who also designed Seattle's City Hall and the Jackson Federal Building.
- The stairs between the plaza, lobby and tunnel levels are unusual and its site has the challenge of straddling a freeway entrance ramp.
- The main lobby is floor 4, not floor 1 as is usual in American buildings.
- The elevators are divided into lower and upper tiers. In order to reach floors above 40, visitors must take an elevator to the "sky lobby" on 40 and transfer to a second elevator to continue upward. Also, to reach floor 62 or "The Tip", one must transfer to a private elevator at floor 61 using an encoded badge.
- The building's three restaurants are on an upper plaza (6th floor) and only one has an inside entrance.
- The plaza and tunnel levels can't be reached by the main elevators. They also require an elevator transfer, in this case the parking-garage elevators on floor 4; or via the decorative staircase.
- The glass cupola at the building's crest is not occupied space. It contains elevator equipment.
References
- ^ Seattle Municipal Tower at Emporis
- ^ "Seattle Municipal Tower". SkyscraperPage.
- ^ Seattle Municipal Tower at Structurae
- ^ "Departments and Agencies". Seattle.gov. 2010. Retrieved 2 September 2010.