Terry Thomas Wins 2009 WMIG AIA Seattle

SEATTLE – April 29, 2009 – The Terry Thomas, a LEED Gold certified office building designed by Seattle firm Weber Thompson, has been honored as one of the “2009 What Makes It Green?” award winners by AIA Seattle’s Committee on the Environment (COTE).

Ten projects were awarded from detailed submittals throughout the Pacific Northwest region and included both built and unbuilt projects The out of town jury included Gwynne Pugh of Pugh+Scarpa, Sandy Wiggins, Principal of Consilience, LLC, a national green development consultancy and Kevin Hydes, CEO of the Integral Group a global engineering firm focused on deep green design strategies. At the awards event, Juror Kevin Hydes noted, “The Terry Thomas building is a great example of an architecture firm that ‘walks the talk,’ by designing its own efficient building that lowers operating costs. Buildings like this, Hydes said, can help pull the mass market into green design and awaken them to the concerns of green building.” Jurors honored projects that used simple, low-tech strategies to keep costs down.

The $10.2 million project is Seattle's first major new office building in decades to feature passive cooling. Instead of air conditioning, the 40,000-square-foot building is cooled naturally through a number of design strategies including operable windows. In designing The Terry Thomas which houses Weber Thompson’s design offices as well as a handful of other tenants, extensive energy modeling during initial design phases was used to influence its courtyard design concept. Initially modeled to save a minimum of 30% of energy costs compared to a typical office building, recently confirmed post occupancy evaluation numbers reveal savings of 50% of energy costs.

The building wraps around a central courtyard with shallow, 38-foot wide floor plates. This design promotes cross ventilation and natural day lighting. On warm days, hot air collects in the courtyard and rises. In addition, exterior shading devices keep occupants cool by protecting them from excessive solar heat gains. Windows on the building's east and west sides have high-performance shades – or sunglasses, as the architects call them – to filter out heat. In addition, the roof is coated with a light-colored compound that reflects heat upward.

The Terry Thomas along with Weber Thompson’s LEED certified Platinum offices have been honored numerous times for its strong design and sustainable features. It recently received a national 2009 COTE Top Ten Green Projects award, a Commendation in the 2008 AIA Seattle Honor Awards; was named Sustainable Development of the Year by the Washington State Chapter of NAIOP and was selected by The Associated Builders and Contractors Association of Western Washington as winner of the Excellence in Construction Award-Sustainable Building Category.

EDITOR’S NOTE: High resolution images of The Terry Thomas are available on request.

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About Weber Thompson

Weber Thompson was founded in 1987 as an architectural firm focused primarily on urban in-fill, mixed-use projects. The firm has since evolved into a highly diversified design agency with capabilities in four complementary design disciplines: Architecture, Interior Design, Community and Urban Design and Landscape Architecture. With special attention to its clients’ vision and the environment, as well as careful collaboration between client and design/construction teams, Weber Thompson’s primary objective is to design exceptional, sustainable projects that help its clients find success. For more information, visit www.weberthompson.com or contact Weber Thompson at (206) 344-5700 or info@weberthompson.com.