State officials: Office project should be visually appealing

Design to be presented at Capitol tonight

By Adam Wilson | The Olympian • Published February 26, 2008

The committee has been eager to make sure the buildings are more pleasing to the eye than nearby state offices. Notably, Rep. Sam Hunt, D-Olympia, once referred to the concrete edifices of Office Building 2 and Department of Transportation across the street as "a Berlin Wall."

"Less is more. I think we've carried that to an extreme with some of these buildings," said Ron Tan, an architect on the design committee.

Reed, a member of the committee, also issued his oft-repeated warning that the three-building development on the east side of the campus must stay on schedule. The buildings need to be ready to house the Washington State Patrol, which will be displaced in two years when construction begins on the $112 million Heritage Center near Capitol Lake.

"Even the funding for these buildings is contingent on making that happen in a timely manner," Reed said, because delays will cause cost increases not paid for in the current budget.

The two most-visible new buildings on the corner Wheeler Avenue and Jefferson Street will hold offices for the Department of Information Services and the patrol. A third building located between them will primarily house the state's huge computer systems.

On the site now is the 75-child Capitol Campus Child Care Center, a small legislative office building] and a parking lot for state workers.

The plan calls for 20 parking spaces at street level, but the design includes an underground garage capable of holding 800 more on the site.

After the public hearing tonight and taking into consideration the committee's feedback, designers with NBBJ said they planned to develop a final design and present it to the committee within three weeks.