Last Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday I was on site of The Gates Foundation’s new building on 500 5th Ave in Seattle, Washington. I was there to observe curtainwall units being delivered to the site and installed on the building. The experience was very helpful. I now have a better understanding of the product we design at Enclos. I can also see where my set of skill can be helpful to future projects and presentations.

I have seen curtainwall units being assembled in a plant, and I understood how the units worked together, but I had never seen any units actually being installed. The experience is what I expected but I got to see all the details one can not see unless one is on the site. It is all the little details and discoveries on the site that will lead to good designs in the future. I documented two full days and I am still discovering details in the photos.

Topping off the visit was a trip up to the Space Needle which is only a block and a half away from the site. I got to see the site from a bird’s eye view. The only thing I could have wished for was sun lite.