I predict an ocean of culs-de-sac will rise. I love the history you've given - I had no idea! One quibble (typically all I have to offer): the Bullitt Center's not "self-appointed" the Greenest Building in the world, it was named that by World Architecture News. http://www.worldarchitecturenews.com/ind…

Electric Heat magazine! I read it for the articles, of course, but the centerfold is usually pretty spicy, (although I hate their use of the airbrush. I like a natural looking baseboard heater.)

The early 70's were the last days of the go-go, sell-all-the-kwh-you-can era. Electric ceiling radiant heat, baby!!!!

(the old City Light building, when first remodeled/expanded in the late 50's didn't have light switches. The lights were to be on 24/7 and an advertisement. How cool is that?)

You made me giggle, @2.

it's only metal and glass on the occidental park façade. it's brick around the other 3 sides.

What a childish naive assessment from Jen Graves -- she sounds like a PR flack.

She's ignoring one very big part of the story: Weyerhaeuser's very auto-centric 1950s & '60s decision to build a suburban campus. which was a significant factor in damaging Tacoma.

I am sure that the building per se has much merit but the demerit of hurting an existing downtown has to be weighed.

Everyone,
If you get a chance, check out the bonsai garden at Weyerhaeuser HQ before the company moves. It's the only public one that I know of in the Seattle vicinity.

The move still seems weird to me. The old building appears to still suit their needs, is completely paid for, has ample traffic accommodation, and sounds like it could still be very energy efficient. Why the hell are they moving to a place that is nearly impossible to get to by car (these are exec jobs - forget transit), has less space, and is going to cost them a shit-ton of money? Too much space in Federal Way? Sub-let! Tons of small companies would love to be in that building.
There's something about the move decision that is not being made public. On the surface, it doesn't make sense.

@7 gets it. Any given building or car is only as Green as the system in which it inhabits. An auto-oriented land use plan is inherently inefficient as it involves people living in far flung homes, depending on heavy cars (which need a minimum amount of energy to move, regardless of whether it's gas or electricity) to move them vast distances. Designing land use patterns so that employment centers and living centers are in close proximity is going to save far more energy than any concrete brutalist building covered in shrubs.

Lark dear, the bonsai/rhodie garden is staying. It's run by a foundation and had along-term lease.

Caution, darling, where was Weyerhauser's downtown Tacoma office? Is the building still there?

Be nice to live there an office converted to apartment.

@9, the salient detail that may bridge the logic is that the building sits on 430 acres ripe for development.

@7

Curious that you blame an auto-centric development decision on a business. What were the policies, taxes, regulation of the time that compelled them to move
physical resources away from human resources?

Are governments immune critique of their role in such development trends?

(Or did Weyerhaeuser simply have a car fetish and decided to underperform the business for the lust of chrome and roar of engines?)

Flash Forward: When emerging Seattle policies, regulation and taxes make it inhospitable for liberal arts majors to live in an ultra-expensive, ultra-regulated, hyper-politicized urbanized city – will you apportion the same blame for their furthering an auto-centric economy, and "ruining Seattle?"

Alibaba

@9: It's no accident that the new building will be three short blocks from King Street Station, so that any executives currently well-settled in the south suburbs can have a quick and easy Sounder ride right to their new front door.

Executives like riding commuter rail.

@14
I bet that W's decision to move out of Tacoma was because of
1. fears of city life e.g. racism
2. moving to suburbs was the thing to do in the 1960s.

I suspect that no public policy forced W. out of Tacoma but your vivid imagination. But go check it out, pal.

@18

Way to embrace circular reasoning: What caused W to move? Beta cause it was the thing to do. Why was it the thing to do? Because it was.

Hmmmmm....