Seattle’s award-winning Watershed building demonstrates how glass-forward exteriors can achieve high levels of sustainability, including water and energy-efficiency. It is one of the first commercial projects developed and certified to meet Seattle’s Living Building Pilot Program (LBPP), in alignment with the International Living Future Institute (ILFI) Living Building Challenge.
Located in the Fremont neighborhood, the office and retail mixed-use property rises seven stories and encompasses more than 60,700 square feet. Replacing a low-rise, underutilized industrial building, the new sustainable structure is intended to have an active 100-year lifespan.
Technoform products helped attain the high thermal performance for Watershed to earn its LBPP certification and exceed its environmental goals.
Technoform's involvement
Technoform provides solutions that are largely invisible, yet improve the thermal performance of façade, fenestration and cladding systems. Its building envelope products are developed through collaboration with its customer partnerships to boost thermal performance of insulating glass, windows, doors, curtain wall, storefront and opaque façades. Technoform’s components help building designs to balance energy efficiency with occupant health and comfort without compromising aesthetics.
Contributing to Watershed, Technoform partnered with Northwestern Industries (NWI) Seattle, part of Hartung Glass Industries; Seattle, which supplied the insulating glass, and with Oldcastle BuildingEnvelope (OBE), which supplied the aluminum framing system. Creating a complete architectural glazing solution, insulating glass units (IGUs) are paired with thermally broken aluminum framing systems. Glazing contractor, Mission Glass, installed the building’s multiple glazing systems working closely with the fabricators, Turner Construction and Weber Thompson.
The first two levels of Watershed’s retail spaces and punched openings feature NWI Seattle’s IGUs. These were fabricated using Technoform plastic hybrid stainless steel (PHSS) warm-edge spacer with Solarban 60 solar-control, low-emissivity glass from Vitro Architectural Glass to meet the project’s thermal performance and solar control specifications.
For the majority of Watershed’s fenestration system, OBE provided its Reliance Unit Wall and Reliance TC curtainwall. The street-level retail and entrances are defined by OBE’s Series 3000 Thermal Multiplane storefront and MS-375 Thermal Composite Doors.
All these OBE products rely on Technoform polyamide insulating strips as a thermal barrier between the aluminum framing’s exterior and interior surfaces. The thermal break reduces heat energy transfer, supporting the building envelope’s goals for energy efficiency and occupant comfort.
Reliance Unit Wall combines Technoform standard 16.6 millimeter hollow strip, standard 20mm offset strip and a 20mm strip developed uniquely for OBE. A 30mm wide standard offset strip is used for Reliance TC. Technoform also manufactures the proprietary OBE 46.95mm polyamide profile for Series 3000 Thermal Multipane storefront system. Standard 16mm and 20mm offset strip are used on MS-375 Thermal Composite Doors and framing.
“Oldcastle BuildingEnvelope worked closely with our team to ensure we achieved our sustainability targets and vision for this beautiful, deep-green building, setting a new standard for what modern commercial office buildings can achieve,” says Kristen Scott, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, Weber Thompson’s managing partner, senior principal and head of the Workplace studio. “Today’s workforce wants to be in a space that supports good health, has great daylighting and is a joy to work in.”
Sustainability goals
Helping move toward greater energy-efficiency and a more sustainable future, the City of Seattle LBPP encourages buildings to meet the ILFI Living Building Challenge (LBC). Watershed targeted LBC Materials, Place and Beauty Petal Certification.
LBC is recognized as one of the most rigorous certification standards for deep-green projects. When Watershed achieved its Petal Certification in 2023, it was one of only 87 projects in the world to earn this accolade and the third project to meet Seattle LBPP requirements. The first commercial office building to earn LBC certification was Seattle’s Bullitt Center. The Bullitt Center also features Technoform hybrid warm-edge spacer and Solarban 60 glass in NWI Seattle’s IGUs.
Project accolades
Watershed has earned numerous awards and honors for its sustainable design and construction. A selection of accolades includes:
- Achitizer, A+ Award, 2021 Popular Choice Award, Concept > Architecture + Water
- American Institute of Architects (AIA), Committee on the Environment (COTE), 2023 Top Ten Award
- AIA Seattle, 2022 Honor Awards, Young Voices Selection
- Engineering News Record, ENR Northwest, 2021 Award of Merit, Best Projects – Office/Retail and Excellence in Sustainability; and 2021 Bet of the Best Projects, Project of the Year Finalist –Excellence in Sustainability
- National Association of Industrial And Office Properties (NAIOP) Washington, 2020 Winner, Sustainable Office Development of the Year
- National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS), 2024 The Beyond Green™ High-Performance Building and Community Award
- Pacific Coast Builders Conference (PCBC), 2022 Gold Nugget Awards, Best Commercial Project
- Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce, 2020 Runner Up, Building of the Year
“Living Buildings like Watershed prove that high-performance architecture does not need to be extravagant or expensive,” says AIA Seattle Young Voices Selection Honor Award summary. “The impact of this market-rate building goes far beyond its occupants; it shows how new construction can reach beyond its site and contribute to a community’s and ecosystem’s environmental health.”
