FORMA

FORMA was pleased to host AIA Seattle’s Mass Timber Committee and Committee on the Environment for a tour of the Port’s new Maritime Innovation Center at Fishermen’s Terminal last week.

Project team members from Miller Hull, PND Engineers, and the Greenbusch Group joined us to walk a sold out group through this one-of-a-kind facility on Ballard’s working waterfront — sharing details of how we transformed the Port of Seattle’s oldest structure into this unique new industry hub that will promote knowledge transfer and workforce development to celebrate and support the modernization and competitiveness of Washington State’s maritime industry.

Nearly complete and on track to achieve full seven-petal certification through the rigorous LBC (Living Building Challenge) process — the new MInC features 13 geothermal wells, solar panels, a high-performance envelope, automatic windows and skylights for passive heating and cooling, and a blackwater treatment system. Water self-sustaining and energy net-positive (supplying energy back to the grid for surrounding Port facilities), our work also involved the strategic salvage and reuse of the original building’s old growth timber beams and columns — both working in tandem with the building’s new reinforced steel structure and repurposed as new NLT (Nail Laminated Timber) decking — transforming what might otherwise have been construction waste into lovely high-performance flooring — a tangible bridge between the near century-old Ship Supply Building and the MInC’s future as an incubator for maritime innovation.

Along the way we also straightened, braced, hoisted, and literally ooched the original structure off its foundation in order to drill new, reliable piles in these tricky Port soils. You can check out video of the Incredible-Building-Move here, learn more about the project here, and check back here for updates as we continue to build-out this inspiring new Port of Seattle facility in collaboration with Maritime Blue.