Combining historical fabric with proven technologies can often pave a fast route to sustainability. Alley 24, a new mixed-use development in Seattle, preserves three brick factory structures, adapting and expanding them into distinctive, high-performance buildings.
 
For the project, architects NBBJ incorporated a range of sustainable-design solutions to enhance indoor environmental quality, including a system of automated Nysan external Venetian blinds. According to solar control experts Pacific Shading Systems, who installed the blinds, "the key to this external system is that it blocks solar energy before it enters the building. This results in significantly better performance than comparable internal systems."
 
By reusing the industrial shells, the developer -- Paul Allen's Vulcan Group -- connected closely with the community and with local history. By focusing on the tenant, resident and shopping experiences in this new mixed-use enclave, NBBJ made solar control and daylighting a marketable attraction that Vulcan could take to the bank.
 
The approach also yielded a successful formula for making cities better and greener. Although Seattle ranks among the most environmentally advanced U.S. localities, Alley 24 is the city's first mixed-use project that with certification for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) by the U.S. Green Building Council, which verifies high environmental performance. This achievement helps demonstrate the viability of green vision in the commercial sector.
 
GREEN VISION - Having publicly committed to sustainable development, Paul Allen and Vulcan naturally considered recycling existing buildings. Using the slogan, "Rethink Urban," the developer engaged local architect NBBJ to plan and design the adaptive reuse as part of the fast-growing South Lake Union development, with hotels, condominiums, and retail.
 
The site contained the three brick shells of the former New Richmond Laundry, built