Community Garden Hub

Nature and Access to Views Spatial Organization and Topography

Seattle has more than 400 city parks, and campus itself looks like one of them. From darkest to lightest blue: parks and gardens, squares, sport fields, and courts. As the architects considered the site, they divided the building into western and eastern parts, positioned longwise from north to south. Its western part sits on the hill and cantilevers to the east supported with steel pilotis, which maximizes the spectacular views from the building over the Lake Washington and the Cascade Mountain Range to the east. An inner courtyard enclosed from all 4 sides resembles the way other buildings on campus were located. However, for the Liberal Arts Quad, the inner courtyard, called the “quad”, organizes the educational process around a central open space, replicating the medieval cloister. In the Faculty Club building the open courtyard was rarely used. To preserve the panoramic view of the spectacular environment, the building was placed on a sloping topography preserving existing natural landscape.

Eastern Cantilevered Volume - Main Dining Room UW Libraries, Special Collections Division, DM2664.