12/4/2023 0 Comments Smith tower seattle elevator![]() ![]() ![]() The only enclosed volume, a powder room at the east wall, creates a separation between the entry stair and the bedroom. The bedroom suite occupies the L-shaped perimeter around the core, allowing uninterrupted views and circulation along the south and east walls. All of these elements are aligned so they form one continuous volume, keeping the space efficient and preserving the clean, monolithic massing of the core. The large mass of the mechanical elevator was encased with a central core of white oak casework, housing closet space and an upgraded bathroom, including a water closet with frosted glass doors, a white oak vanity and a walk-in shower. The design effort began by stripping back many of the added partitions within the pyramid, opening the floor plan so all spaces within the uniquely shaped volume ow together. Small, triangular-shaped windows punctuate the perimeter walls of both floors, granting 360-degree views of the Olympic Mountains, Elliott Bay and the city of Seattle. 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 two-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 in 2020, 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 with 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 LIFEĭespite 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 re-suppression system, which remained into the 1940s. The top level of the two-level penthouse, 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.
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