In 2001, the Seattle subsidiary of New York–based ad agency McCann-Erickson moved and recast itself as Sedgwick Rd., the name of a Port Orchard, Washington, street leading to a ferry dock. Sedgwick Rd.’s old quarters in a downtown Seattle office tower mimicked the buttoned-down layout of McCann-Erickson’s Madison Avenue offices, with executives seated along windows and staff located in the center.

The new office is on the edge of downtown, in a 1926 brick building unremarkable except for a two-and-a-half-story machine shop with multipaned clerestory windows and a delicate scissor truss of welded steel angles.

The building was already under renovation by the owner to add a fourth floor, and the machine shop floor was piled high with discarded beam cranes, steel-clad doors, and old window frames. The architects immediately saw treasure in the trash.

The architects measured and catalogued what had once been debris. "Frankenstein" is a pet name for a series of mobile panels—mounted on wheels and built using recycled welding doors, wood windows, and steel beams—that are reconfigured almost daily to create different meeting spaces in the old machine shop.

Former tool rooms on the shop’s south side now house editing rooms, meeting areas, libraries, and a bar for officewide events. Deceptively heavy-looking steel doors pivot open at a mere touch, opening these smaller rooms to the central area.

In the office space overlooking the machine shop, boundaries are not firmly drawn between departments. Instead, desks are clustered or stretched along a sinuous line, freeing up valuable daylit spaces for informal gatherings. An oversize stair cranks around columns and between trusses connecting the first and second floors.


People

Owner
Manning Family, LLC

Client
Sedgwick Rd.
www.sedgwickrd.com

Architect
Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects
108 First Avenue South, Fourth Floor
Seattle, Washington 98104
www.olsonsundberg.com

Principal architect:
Tom Kundig

Associate, project manager:
Janice Webb

Associate:
Alan Maskin

Project team:
Kristen Becker, Kirsten Murray, Stephen Wood

Interior designer:
Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects

Engineers
Mechanical:
Holaday Parks – (Design Build) www.holadayparks.com

Electrical:
Haaland & Associates – (Design Build) www.haalandgroup.com

Consultants
Lighting:
Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects

Owner’s Representative / Project Manager :
The Seneca Group www.senecagroup.com
Mike Stanley

General contractor
Schuchart Corp.
419 3rd Avenue West
Seattle, Washington 98119
Steve Simons, project superintendent

Photographers
– Marco Prozzo 206-467-9696 www.marcoprozzo.com
– Hans Fonk 31-172-509-843
– Tim Bies 206-624-5670

Renderer
Kristen Becker

CAD system, project management, or other software used
AutoCad usa.autodesk.com
Illustrator www.adobe.com

 

Products

Steel Work
Stairs and railings:
– Shop drawings:
Standard Steel Fabricating, Inc
www.standardsteelfab.com

Stair Install Railings install:
CHG Buildings Systems

Steel Stairs fabricated by Big Doors; (Large pivot structure) fabricated by All New Glass; Frankenstein conference Room fabricated by Schuchart Corp.

Glazing
Glass:
Emerald Glass, Redmond, WA

Windows
Window coverings:
– Mecho shades www.mechoshade.com
– Levolors www.levolor.com
– Iris Window coverings www.iriswc.com

Doors
Large Steel Pivot doors:
All New Glass, Auburn, WA

Wood doors:
Tangent Associates, LLC Kirkland WA
www.tangentassociates.com

Hardware
Locksets:
Corbin Russwin www.yalesecurity.com

Hinges:
– Stanley www.stanleyworks.com
– PBB www.pbbinc.com

Closures:
Large Steel Pivot doors - Rixon

Pulls:
custom steel, Ives

Cabinet hardware:
McKillican www.mckillican.com

Interior Finishes
Work stations:
Ply wood and Fiberglass partitions: Schuchart Corp.

Frankenstein Movable Conference Room Walls:
– Steel base: Blumes Mobile Welding
– Wood frame & fabrication: Schuchart Corp.

Fabric walls:
Small Meeting Room Fabric walls: Koryn Rolstad Studios, Seattle, WA www.krstudios.com

Cabinetwork and custom woodwork: Master Millwork, Puyallup, WA

Paints and stains:
Painters Inc, Seattle, WA www.thepainters.com

Plastic laminate:
Master Millwork

Special surfacing:
Steel Floor: Schuchart Corp.

Carpet & VCT:
CF Resources, Seattle, WA

Furnishings
Work Stations Tables:
–  Wood desk tops: OB Williams, Seattle, WA www.obwilliams.com
– steel legs: see steel work above
– Assembly: Schuchart Corp.

Reception Desk:
– Steel base: Blumes Mobile Welding
– Desk top: Acrylic Concepts, Redmond, WA
– Fabrication: Schuchart Corp.

Wood Stools on Casters:
– Wood shaping: OB Williams, Seattle, WA
– Assembly: Schuchart Corp.

Conference room chairs:
Eames chairs

Conference Room Tables:
Steve Clark, Bellingham, WA

Lighting
Interior ambient lighting:
Lightolier Columbia www.lightolier.com

Lightolier Controls:
Lightolier www.lightolier.com

Exterior Neon Sign:
– Steel beam: Blumes Mobile Welding
– Neon Sign: City Lights Neon, Seattle, WA

Plumbing
Faucets:
Chicago www.chicagofaucets.com

Sinks:
Just www.justsinks.com