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SEATTLE
Populus Seattle Rewrites the Rules for Historic Reuse The new hotel updates a historic building in Seattle’s Pioneer Square, setting it up for a green future.
At the turn of the 20th century, Seattle’s downtown was centered on the nearby waterfront, with a cadre of workhorse structures built to support the city’s booming maritime and timber industries. Today, walking this neighborhood, now known as Pioneer Square, one is transported in time, passing block upon block of stone and brick buildings that still look much as they did then. Here, Denver-based developer Urban Villages took on the challenge of bringing one such building into the future, transforming it into the Seattle Populus Hotel. “We focus on adaptive reuse because it’s near impossible to replicate the patina and authenticity of these existing buildings,” says Urban Villages CEO Jon Buerge of the developer’s sustainable ethos. “It’s also the most environmentally friendly thing we can do.” Working with local architecture firm The Miller Hull Partnership and the Chicago and Mérida, Mexico, offices of interiors studio Curioso, Urban Villages set its sights on a former steam-supply warehouse in the historic district for Populus, the second of the developer’s eco-friendly hotels. Although the 1907 building had been refreshed in the ’70s, when it was transformed into offices, it still needed an overhaul to bring it up to current code. 118
METROPOLIS
COURTESY THE MILLER HULL PARTNERSHIP (DUY DANG)
By Lauren Gallow