HISTORIC PRESERVATION
Over the past 25 years, Studio TJP has demonstrated expertise in historic preservation. Whether providing historic resources consulting or presenting Landmark nominations in Seattle, Studio TJP explores the history of already-built and architecturally significant structures to understand what makes places meaningful, taking into consideration a structure’s social and cultural impacts on individuals and the community. Clients include government agencies, not-for-profit organizations, developers, architects, and private landowners. As professional Architectural Historians and Historic Architects, the team is fluent in the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Historic Preservation and National Trust Preservation Protocols. Our historic architects implement long-term historic building stewardship and maintenance programs from start to finish—from identifying historic jurisdictions and technical preservation issues to maintaining an historic building for future generations.
Our historic architects implement long-term historic building stewardship and maintenance programs from start to finish—from identifying historic jurisdictions and technical preservation issues to maintaining an historic building for future generations.
Episcopal Diocese of Olympia
We have been assisting the Episcopal Diocese with the rehabilitation of their offices, located in the National Register listed Eliza Ferry Leary House on Capitol Hill Seattle since 2018.
Sigma Kappa Mu Chapter House, Seattle
Studio TJP’s initial involvement with the building was the result of the 2001 Nisqually earthquake. We assisted with repair and restoration of the damaged chimney, and went on to prepare the Landmark Nomination Report for the building. The Seattle Landmarks Board designated Sigma Kappa a city Landmark in March 2006. The Puget Sound Association of Sigma Kappa developed our Landmark Nomination Report to nominate the house for the National Register of Historic Places. We’ve continued to be involved with large maintenance projects for the sorority, including updating bathrooms to meet code requirements, and a multi-year window replacement project. Stewardship Services included Consulting on seismic and other structural repairs following the Nisqually earthquake, ensuring the new support struts for the damaged masonry chimney were visually unobtrusive. Prepared and secured a City of Seattle Landmark nomination, which the Puget Sound Association of Sigma Kappa in turn leveraged to prepare a National Register Nomination. Continued stewardship assistance includes a west wing bathroom renovation followed years later by a renovation of the east wing bathroom, and a multi-year window replacement project for which Studio TJP obtained a Certificate of Approval (and subsequent renewals) from the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board. Historical Connections Skoog, who worked for Robert Reamer’s Metropolitan Building Company, claimed responsibility for the 5th Avenue Theater’s interior design, and the Lake Quinault Lodge on the Olympic Peninsula.
ARCHITECTURAL HISTORIANS
Our professional Architectural Historians prepare reports necessary for due diligence which may be necessary for permitting or other entitlements.
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Appendix A (also known as Section 106 Historic Report Addenda) to State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) reports and/or Master Use Permit applications
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Historic structures reports, historic resources research, evaluations, surveys, and Federal National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) Section 106 analyses and reports
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Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) drawings and coordination
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Federal tax credit assistance
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Local, state, and national landmark and historic register nominations
TUDOR REVIVAL STYLE, FREDERICK ANHALT, BUILDER (BJARNE MOE, DRAFTSMAN) – 1928 UNIVERSITY DISTRICT, SEATTLE, WA Historical & Community Significance This 1925 Tudor Revival-style apartment building, designed by Frederick Anhalt, was originally constructed two blocks east of its current location in the University District. Between 1925 and 1942, architect Frederick Anhalt designed and constructed dozens of buildings around Seattle, including multiple apartment buildings. Anhalt’s designs reflect Jacobean and Tudor architectural influences, incorporating architectural flourishes and modern construction techniques uncommon in pre-war mainstream residential architectural projects. In the 1950s, the building’s original site was slated for demolition to make way for the construction of Interstate 5. The community rallied to save the building, which was sold at auction and moved on a truck bed to its current site. Our involvement with Anhalt Hall began in 2016, when plans for a neighborhood up-zone were being determined. We advocated for an expansion of a Landmarks incentive program, Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) zone, to include Anhalt Hall. We prepared the Landmark Nomination Report, and the building was designated a city Landmark in 2018. After designation, we continued to work with the owner to advise on how potential development on the property could meet the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards along with tax incentives and TDR. We continue to brainstorm with the owner how property owners can operate Landmarked properties in economically sustainable ways. Landmark and Stewardship Services included Advocacy included attending a public meeting and writing to the Seattle City Council with the results of a neighborhood “windshield survey” of potentially eligible properties. Preparation of the Landmark nomination report, once zoning was complete. Advised the owner during the Landmarks incentives phase. The owner took advantage of property tax valuation and Transfer of Development Rights (TDR). Developed a schematic master plan which would adhere to the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards if the property owner ever chooses to develop more units on the property. Historical Connections The draftsman for Anhalt Hall was most likely Bjarne Moe, who had also served as Robert Reamer’s draftsman. Reamer, lead architect for the Metropolitan Building Company, was responsible for the design of many Seattle buildings, including the 5th Avenue Theater. Since Moe and Skoog both worked at the Metropolitan Building Company, they may well have been friends. Joseph Skoog was the architect of another architectural gem, the Sigma Kappa Mu Chapter House, which shares similarities with many of the larger Anhalt projects. Photographs by Studio TJP
UW More Hall Annex/Nuclear Reactor Building
BRUTALISM STYLE, THE ARCHITECT ARTIST GROUP (TAAG) – 1961 UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON, SEATTLE, WA Historical & Community Significance The More Hall Annex, formerly the Nuclear Reactor building, housed a functional nuclear research reactor. One of a handful of reactors built on college campuses to develop the study of nuclear engineering, the Brutalist building featured the style’s characteristic heavy massing, exposed concrete, and plinth base. Designed by a collective known as The Architect Artist Group (TAAG), consisting of architects Wendell Lovett, Daniel Streissguth, and Gene Zema; art professor Spencer Moseley; landscape architect Robert Chittock; and structural engineer and professor Gerard Torrence, the building was constructed in 1960-1961. The reactor was shut down in 1988 and decommissioned in 2007. After a thorough review of options and a determination that preservation presented too many challenges to overcome, the university demolished the building in July 2016 and in 2019 completed a new computer science building on the site. The university ensured the building design was preserved in the Library of Congress for posterity by recording the building in the Historic American Building Survey (HABS). The architectural prints of the drawings and photographs had to meet the highest archival quality standards in order to be accepted by the National Park Service, who administers the survey. The HABS project records some of the most important historical buildings in the United States in thorough detail. Measured drawing for HABS generally require days of field work and must meet the highest standards of readability as outlined by the National Park Service. Preservation Services Studio TJP prepared a report for the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) in 2016 to record the details of this unique building. We created measured drawings of the building, prepared an extensive report on the building’s historic and architectural significance, and coordinated large-format photographs of the interior and exterior. The materials currently reside in the Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress. You can read more about HABS and search the database of almost 40,000 historic sites and structures here.
PaliHotel (originally the Colonnade Hotel)
VERNACULAR STYLE WITH CLASSICAL REVIVAL ELEMENTS, CHARLES H. BEBB – 1900 NEAR PIKE PLACE MARKET, SEATTLE, WA Historical & Community Significance Our involvement with this worker hotel from 1900 comprises nearly all of our historic preservation and consulting services in a single project. The client wanted to develop the site into a contemporary boutique hotel with restaurant and bar, while preserving the historic features and enjoying the tax benefits that can result from designation on the National Register of Historic Places. Today, the former Colonnade Hotel is a boutique hotel featuring an eclectic, yet approachable design vision, paying homage to the city’s Pacific Northwest sensibility with 96 guest rooms, The Hart and The Hunter restaurant and bar, coffee outpost and a cozy lobby lounge. Built in 1900, the Colonnade Hotel was situated directly across First Avenue from the Pike Place Market at the very northern end of town. The hotel’s northern side was partially covered by mounds of soil from unimproved Pine Street. The regrading of Pine Street, begun in 1904, enlarged the right-of-way and resulted in a paved street. Along the building’s eastside concrete face (yes, in the alley) you can see the line from the original grade prior to the 1909 re-grade. The building’s association with this significant regrading activity is a major reason the building was landmarked and listed on the National Register. Landmark and Stewardship Services included Prepared the National Register Nomination, coordinating with the State Historic Preservation Office and State Historic Architect, and consulted on the proposed design for rehabilitation. Prepared the City of Seattle Landmark Nomination. Collaborated with Gensler, the project architectural firm, to obtain Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board Certificate of Approval. Facilitated procurement of Federal tax credits from the National Parks Service. Supporting Preservation with Collaboration Studio TJP often collaborates with other architectural firms, lending our historical expertise to obtain landmark status and tax credits to support preservation efforts. Federal tax credits for historic properties can equal 20% of the total project cost, incentives that make preservation and rehabilitation of National Register properties possible. Contemporary photo by Studio TJP