With more than 10 million visitors per year, Seattle’s Pike Place Market needs new lodging that reflects the true character of one of the United States’ most visited sites.
At 103 Pike Street, in the cultural heart of Seattle, both tourists and business travelers will have direct access to the Market and the downtown core. Our goal: Create a boutique destination hotel that gives guests lasting memories, becomes a landmark for the city, and responds to the neighborhood’s one-of-a-kind character and small, local businesses. Directly across First Street sits the Market. Nearby venues like Benaroya Performance Hall, the Seattle Art Museum, and the iconic Showbox Theater beckon travelers out of their small but well-appointed rooms to explore the immediate area and the buzzing city beyond.
Rising from its historic, two-story brick podium into a slim, elegant, 12-story steel-and-glass tower, the hotel will offer more than just 145 hotel rooms and 12 apartments. Visitors can mingle in an indoor/outdoor rooftop space, gazing out over unobstructed views of Elliott Bay and the Olympic Mountains. A lively bar and lounge will keep the neighborhood animated well after sunset.
Our design packs a lot of programming into a relatively small site. Each floor plan efficiently maximizes the number of rooms while upholding a luxurious guest experience. Despite the small floor plate, we successfully separated front- and back-of-house, moving all office functions to the basement and designing separate elevators for employees. Outside, exhaust louvres face the alley, shifting the building’s exhaust away from pedestrians and the hotel’s street-facing façade.
To honor the area and neighborhood’s input, we set the hotel back from the street, keeping the area pedestrian-and bike-friendly while keeping transparent views to Puget Sound. Steel, windows, and brick supports the neighborhood’s aesthetic. As it rises, the tower presents lovely views of Pike Street, catching and reflecting light differently than its neighbors, both literally reflecting and enhancing Seattle’s downtown skyline.
Our design is meant to bring light, new life, greater transparency, and a more open corner to this site, appealing to this community’s needs while creating a beautiful and important addition to a celebrated neighborhood.
