High Performing Buildings - Spring 2008 - (Page 10) Sidelights, interior windows and clerestories break down visual barriers inside the council chamber and lobby. Seattle City Hall’s architecture expresses transparency, accessibility and openness. The terraced limestone base and concrete landforms create public plazas of various sizes. Floors and terraces made of natural cleft Swedish quartzite shimmer like the water visible throughout the city. Stone anchors the building to the site and instills a sense of civic permanence. The building’s structure above is steel and glass. In the lobby, closely spaced steel columns establish a scale both civic and humane. A grand stairway of sitting ledges leads to the 10 HIGH PERFORMING council chamber entrance. A fireplace clad in bands of black granite creates an intimate gathering space outside a multipurpose room beneath the chamber. At the end of a red glass wall that defines the primary public gathering space, steel components such as those in the lobby create a trellis and lantern in the plaza, marking the street corner and northwest entrance to the building. The council chamber, enclosed by two curved titanium clad shells, Spring 2008 serves as a focus for the lobby and counterpoint to the office block. Its form extends through the ceiling, visible from the plaza outside. Across the lobby, a blue glass bridge designed by artist James Carpenter links the chamber and offices. The seven-story executive office block uses curtain wall and sunshades to respond to solar orientation. The curving southeast face imitates the form of the council chamber below, its structure cantilevering to support the elevator lobby and primary public corridor. Throughout, material details reveal each component and its respective function. This can be seen from the BUILDINGS
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