OpenStreetMap (new tab)

Google Map (new tab)

Google Streetview (new tab)

Building History

The firm of Naramore, Bain, Brady and Johanson coalesced gradually after 1941. Floyd Naramore was the firm's eldest partner, and he incorporated with Clifton Brady in 1941. Progressive Architecture recounted its development in 1950: "The firm of Naramore, Bain, Brady & Johanson was established during the war years to cope with the production problems of designing large-scale war housing projects. It was a pooling of resources of three firms--Naramore and Brady; William J. Bain; and Smith, Carroll & Johanson. Although the joint activity was originally a temporary expedient, the architects found they enjoyed working together and decided to continue association in the postwar years in a non-residential practice. The old firms of William J. Bain and Smith, Carroll & Johanson still maintain independent offices, engaging principally in residential work." (See "The Architect and His Community: Naramore, Bain, Brady & Johanson, Architects and Engineers Seattle, Washington," Progressive Architecture, vol. XXXI, no. 9, 09/1950, p. 57.)

Between 1948-1953, the architectural firm Bain, Overturf, Turner and Associates (later Bain and Overturf) occupied the building next door to the NBBJ Headquarters, at 908 7th Avenue. Bain operated interests in both firms and had an ownership stake in the property on which both buildings stood.

Building Notes

The NBBJ Office had an articulated reinforced concrete frame, painted white. The architects used coursed, rusticated, ashlar masonry as infill. Studio spaces were located on the building's east end, lit by glass block walls on the north and south sides. A butterfly roof covered the studio. This office building was one of the most original, small-scale commercial designs in Seattle at this time. As a result of the construction of the Interstate Highway 5 Project through Downtown Seattle in the 1960s, the NBBJ Office stood in the shadow and noise of huge overpasses.

Demolition

The historic NBBJ Office was torn down in 2007. The Polyclinic Madison Center was erected on the site in 2007-2008.

PCAD id: 11566