2024 Summer Issue of Urban Land - 78

Office
Designs for
Community
Vulcan's new Amazonleased
West Main in
Bellevue, Washington,
welcomes community with
public gathering spaces,
art, and landscaping
PETER KRECH
West Main, a 1,030,000-square-foot
(95,690 sq m) office, retail, and mixeduse
project, is the new home to some
of Amazon's 12,000-person workforce in
Bellevue, Washington. The three-building
project, designed by Graphite Design
Group in collaboration with Compton
Design Office for Vulcan Real Estate, is
transforming this city neighboring Seattle
to the east.
Before West Main was completed in
January 2024, the cityscape surrounding
the site disrupted any connection
between Old Bellevue and downtown.
The creation of West Main changed that:
it revitalized Main Street by using interactive
art and landscaping to capture passersby.
West Main's facade and courtyard
attracted such tenants as world-renowned
Peruvian restaurant La Mar Cebichería
Peruana, opening its third location in the
U.S.-its eighth worldwide.
West Main is positioned as a focal
point in Bellevue's evolving urban landscape,
skillfully facilitated through strategic
street-level landscaping, interactive
art, and the implementation of accessible
pedestrian-friendly exteriors.
The project's three fully leased towers,
home to a mix of uses and hospitality
brands, are just the beginning as Bellevue
grapples with the challenges of rapid
growth. West Main serves as a model for
how cities can evolve without losing their
identities, and create spaces that prioritize
people over profits.
A people's place
Expert landscaping of the West Main
campus plays a major role in enriching
the public areas at ground level. West
Main features 80,000 square feet (7,432
sq m) of open space and a public plaza, a
stunning integration of art and landscape,
designed by award-winning landscape
architecture firm GGN.
Vulcan Real Estate, the project's developer,
frequently commissions local artists
in its projects. For West Main it selected
emerging talents Julian Watts and Iván
Carmona for their unique perspectives
and abilities to capture the essence of the
Pacific Northwest.
Watts created Groves and Stones, a
carefully curated multipiece installation
inspired by the Pacific Northwest's boulders,
mountains, and trees. Guided by the
buildings' features, the soft, organic forms
beautifully complement the crisp edges,
seamlessly integrating with the angular
architecture. The resulting artworks are
meant to be touched, stepped on, and sat
upon, offering a tactile connection to the
natural world amid the urban setting.
Carmona's bold red sculpture De Sol
a Sol (From Sunrise to Sunset) greets all
who enter the courtyard. As the artist
explains, it pays homage to the Jíbaro, the
contemporary stewards of Puerto Rico's
West Main is a three-tower 1,030,000-square-foot (95,690 sq m) office development in Bellevue.
78
URBAN LAND SUMMER 202 4
BENJAMIN BENSCHNEIDER
2024 Summer Issue of Urban Land

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