Customization of a Pre-engineered Metal Building System in Interbay

Developer and client, The Freehold Group, was interested in using a pre-engineered metal building (PEMB) system for a new, flexible building in the Interbay industrial area of Seattle. The concept of efficient, off-the-shelf building components assembled into an expressive, economical structure approach has enticed architects for years. An early, compelling example was the home of husband and wife architects Charles & Ray Eames, built in 1949 in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles.

Schemata Workshop has designed one prefabricated component building (permitted, unbuilt), but has completed a number of industrial projects using PEMB systems, and refined our skills during that process of renovation and construction.

Charles & Ray Eames on site during construction of their home (with no tie-offs or PPE!)

Eames home office interior on the left, Eames House interior on the right. Both are views west toward the Pacific Ocean.

The pure engineering of PEMB industrial buildings has a long, known history, but considering PEMB thoughtfully and thoroughly seems to be less common. Deeper consideration for PEMB was purposely part of our process for the R&D Building. The Freehold Group shared examples of the work of El Dorado in Kansas City, MO, along with other examples of industrial work that create a sense of place, including the 798 District in Beijing, PRC; gritty but thoughtfully designed districts in Kyoto and Tokyo, Japan; RiNo Art District in Denver, Colorado; among others. A single PEMB structure that stood out to the Freehold Group was the Healdsburg SHED, which served as a well-executed, inspiring, and elegant example of the building type. 

Photo from Healdsburg SHED website.

The R&D building site during site remediation and civil work.

BNSF Diesel filling station directly adjacent to the R&D Building site. 

For the R&D Building, the client came to us after having completed environmental remediation of the site, and installing a storm water drainage system in anticipation of future construction of an L-shaped building around an outdoor parking area. Early massing studies below, which considered the sense of enclosure provided by the existing adjacent, Freehold-owned Bow Building, as well as views from the surrounding Magnolia & Queen Anne hillsides.

Efforts focused on the potential sense of place and identity provided by uses opening onto the courtyard space, with horizontal circulation along an exterior walkway that connects to the vertical circulation of 2-stairs and one freight elevator.

The Owner was very interested in the symmetrical gable frame visible from the Thorndyke street frontage, seen on the right.

End gable frame is prominent here as well, but the low eaves align with a shed structure to the left.

Floor plan shows the two column grids for each of the two building framing systems.

Aerial view of R&D Building steel PEMB frame from adjacent rooftop.

Site panorama including PEMB frame.

PEMB frame during construction.

Schemata Workshop architects on site visit.

Parking court and vertical circulation signage after completion.

View north along upper balcony walkway. The owner sourced the guardrails in front of roll-up doors, portions in front of the garage doors are removable for fork-lift deliveries from the parking lot below.

An office interior T-I build-out.

Still available top-floor unit (see Freehold Group for leasing).

In progress T-I, including CLT mezzanine, stair construction, stainless steel mesh guardrail.

Architects at a foosball table.

Mezzanine of cross-laminated timber (CLT) planks set into wide flange steel support frame.

Schemata on upper balcony walkway.

Other resources

An approach to long life, loose fit buildings (book): Frame & Generic Space

Overview of discrete building systems (book): How Buildings Learn - What Happens After They're Built

A thorough review of the Case Study House program (book): Blueprints for Modern Living: History and Legacy of the Case Study Houses

Amazing Design-Build-Fabricator El Dorado in Kansas City, MO (website, inspirational but not involved with this project).

A great analysis of the Healdsburg SHED by Jensen Architects (website)

General Contractor, MRJ Constructors (website)

Structural Engineer, AJP Engineering (website)

Civil Engineer, SvR Engineering (website)

Owner & Developer, The Freehold Group (website)

New Staff Join Schemata Workshop

Last month, Marijana Cvencek and David Witte were added to the Schemata Workshop roster. We are overjoyed to welcome these two engaged and thoughtful community leaders.  You can read their bios in the staff page, but we thought we would continue the tradition of asking our newest coworkers off-the-beaten-track questions to get to know them. 

Here are their answers:

Marijana

David

Cheers!

- The Froggers

I'm Officially a TEDster

TEDster – noun. A person who attends a TED conference.

Attending the TED conference is like drinking from a fire hose; while TED talks are between 8-19 minutes long, the conference is a full 5 days. There are two-hour sessions 2-3 times a day, where you hear 6- 8 speakers in a row.

The theme for the conference was The Future You. And while there was a lot of talk about robots and drones of the near-term and future, it was balanced with the human side of things and the importance of community and connection. The topics ranged from artificial intelligence, art and music, healthcare, and climate change, to compassion and heartbreak, microbes and pond scum, refugees, and community. Speakers were not run-of-the-mill, but top in the field, extraordinary individuals doing amazing work like Pope Francis, the Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, Shah Rukh Kahn, Tim Ferriss, Serena Williams, and Elon Musk. The full line-up can be found here.

A few of my favorite sessions were:

Vanessa Garrison and T. Morgan Dixon – two friends who started a non-profit called GirlTrek, the largest public health nonprofit for African-American women and girls in the United States. Invoking the spirits of their foremothers and Harriet Tubman, they spoke about why and how they get black women out walking in their neighborhoods – for their personal health as well as social change. Throughout American history, black women walked to organize their communities and speak out against injustices. Their talk was powerful and brought the audience to their feet.

Photo: Bret Hartman / TED

Titus Kaphar – an artist that spoke about race and equity in art as seen through the eyes of his young son, and how art has historically marginalized people of color. He painted for us as he talked about why you can’t erase history, but how you can obscure the power depicted through art to bring into focus the people who were oppressed. A beautiful performance. 

Titus Kaphar's work at TED

Devita Davison – a food activist from Detroit whom I’ve been raving about since last year when I first heard her speak at a planning conference. She is working with a team to make Detroit a food sovereign city, and helping people of color become entrepreneurs. Devita took us on a tour of her hometown showing us community gardens where residents came to know their farmers, and where neighbors band together to obliterate food deserts and build community. She comes from a long lineage of preachers and her talk showed it – the passion and conviction with which she spoke was infectious.

Photo: Bret Hartman / TED

There were many more on art and music, climate change, and human connection – but those will come in a later post.  In the meantime, look up Raj Panjabi, Emily Esfahani Smith, Daan Roosegaarde, Anna Rosling Rônnlund, Kate Marvel, Guy Winch, Anab Jain, Anna Herringer, Ashton Applewhite, Helen Pearson, Susan Pinker, Anthony Romero, Laolu Senbanjo, Jacob Collier, Lil Buck, Huang Yi, Anne Madden, David Whyte, and Manoush Zomorodi.

The TED experience was exhilarating and inspiring. In an interview, Elon Musk (who talked about colonizing Mars, a tunnel/highway under LA to get people out of traffic, and autonomous vehicles) was asked what inspired him. He said, “I’m not trying to be anyone’s savior. I’m just trying to think about the future and not be sad.” I get that. But I’m also sad he feels that way, because when I think of the future, I’m hopeful, not sad. I think the future holds much beauty and promise. There was talk about inclusivity and resilience at the conference, and I’m glad to have had this past week to think about what that means for The Future Us.

- Grace

Anticipating TED

Being asked to deliver a TED talk is an interesting experience (I’ll write about the actual experience of giving the talk at a later date.) There's lots of coaching from TED organizers on content, length, and delivery. I’ve had a private sessions with a voice coach and participated in a workshop on what do (and not do) with hands and body posture, and been told what to wear (and not to wear) on camera. I’ve met some of the other presenters at a live rehearsal in NYC and experienced impostor syndrome as I sat through a dinner with them afterwards. I’ve since recovered. I’ve tightened up my main points and editing out many stories--perhaps I’ll have a chance to share all of them in another, longer talk.

The topic of my talk on April 26 is cohousing as an antidote for isolation. I highlight how we have become isolated due to the pursuit of the American Dream as well as social media, and how cohousing promotes social connection and could even save your life.

For those you interested in process, here are some interesting bits I found during my research for the talk:

A recent article describing the medical dangers of loneliness, particularly for middle aged men: https://www.bostonglobe.com/magazine/2017/03/09/the-biggest-threat-facing-middle-age-men-isn-smoking-obesity-loneliness/k6saC9FnnHQCUbf5mJ8okL/story.html

A fantastic video, albeit a commercial, describing isolation and the importance of eating together to build community: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDuA9OPyp6I

One of my favorite TED Talks. It's about procrastination, watched while procrastinating on my own talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/tim_urban_inside_the_mind_of_a_master_procrastinator

And another TED favorite. I have been employing the Wonder Woman stance before talks and presentations over the past few years. You can be sure I’ll be taking the stance before my TED: https://www.ted.com/talks/amy_cuddy_your_body_language_shapes_who_you_are

- Grace

Count Us In

During the very early morning hours of Friday, January 27th, staff from Schemata Workshop will be joining volunteers from all over King County to conduct a point in time count of people experiencing homelessness and living without shelter. This street count effort is taking place in every census tract in the County and is combined with a shelter and youth count to form Count Us In (formerly One Night Count). The data from Count Us In not only increases community support and awareness of the scope and scale of homelessness but provides much needed data for organizations and government agencies working toward housing for all. 

This is why we're counting:

It makes me sad to think that homelessness has become part of the landscape of our community. People walk/drive by without a thought as if it’s okay that there are community members who are living unsheltered. THIS IS NOT OKAY! I am counting because we need to SEE and acknowledge people experiencing homelessness and work/advocate harder for various ways to ensure that everyone has a safe home. It’s a human right. - Joann

Homelessness is such a big problem for our city that for a single individual wanting to help, it’s overwhelming to try and find a way to be a part of the solution. I have volunteered here and there at a few different encampments in the past, but Count Us In is a chance to contribute to a bigger effort. This data will help provide resources to tackle homelessness issues at a bigger scale, and that is why I am counting. - Margaret K.

I want to better understand homelessness and help in some way. - Erik

It is vital that we understand the scale of the homelessness crisis in our cities, counties, states, and country. This Count represents one step in the journey to ensure every person has a safe, affordable, and healthy place to live. - Sarah

I’m counting because it’s more important now than ever for me to use my relative privilege in the service of helping others who don’t have that luxury. - Margaret T.

I want to help, even if only in a small way. Being able to see one aspect of homelessness firsthand makes all the statistics that much more personal and gives even more meaning to the work we’re a part of at Schemata. - Brian

It's the responsibility of those of us with means and opportunity to give visibility to members of our community whose voices go unheard and whose needs have been ignored. - Abby

Learn more about getting involved here.