BetterBricks recently joined the University of Washington Integrated Design Lab to host an in-person building tour of the Metropole—a set of 19th-century buildings reimagined as a vibrant, sustainable hub for community, culture, and collaboration.

Revitalized to achieve advanced environmental goals, the buildings in Seattle’s iconic Pioneer Square neighborhood now feature leading energy-saving solutions, including very high efficiency dedicated outside air systems (DOAS), a commercial building HVAC approach proven to enhance building health, comfort, and efficiency. By adopting a whole-building approach to building renewal, the Metropole demonstrates the ways vetted efficiency solutions can work together to achieve even deeper efficiency than individual upgrades can do on their own.    

An in-depth tour of integrated building design.

Funded by the Satterberg Foundation, the Metropole stands as a leading example of deep building integration across design disciplines. By employing a whole-building approach, the project team achieved exceptional performance by aligning their architectural vision with advanced engineering strategies and energy efficiency solutions proven to work for Northwest buildings. The Metropole met each of its goals, including efficient performance on track for LEED Platinum certification, historic preservation, and indoor comfort by employing a variety of techniques and technologies, including:

• A high-performance envelope that balances daylighting, thermal comfort, and reuse of existing building elements.
• High-performance HVAC systems designed for energy efficiency and occupant comfort, including high-efficiency energy recovery ventilators, decoupled heating and cooling, and air-source heat pumps.
• Luminaire level lighting controls, including occupancy sensors to reduce energy use in offices, hallways, and stairwells.

To learn more about the Metropole Project’s achievement of deep building integration across design disciplines, watch this BetterBricks webinar.