Waterfront Seattle
Last month, updated drawings were presented to the Seattle Design Commission for the Overlook Walk and Ocean Pavilion as part of the Waterfront Seattle’s post-viaduct plans. The Overlook Walk will connect the waterfront to Pike Place Market and downtown, while the Seattle Aquarium’s Ocean Pavilion aims to focus public attention on saving the ocean and demonstrating how ocean health is crucial to the health of the planet.
A small part of the Overlook Walk is already built as it is part of the Pike Place MarketFront that opened in 2016. The Overlook Walk design team (James Corner Field Operations) is collaborating with the MarketFront’s (Miller Hull Partnership) as they inch closer to final designs. In addition to working with the MarketFront team, JCFO is working with the Ocean Pavilion design team (LMN Architects) as the two post-viaduct projects have now joined together as a seamless whole.
Waterfront Seattle
The Overlook Walk is being designed for all ages and abilities; it will feature gradual slopes, new elevators, and terraced plazas providing places to sit, relax, and play. Between the MarketFront and Overlook Walk will be the Overlook Building. Taking design cues from the MarketFront, the Overlook Building will feature a shed-like cafe structure and public terrace that looks out toward Elliott Bay.
Waterfront Seattle
The bridge over the new Alaskan Way will allow pedestrians to travel from the market to the waterfront without having to cross a street. The latest design also shows the Ocean Pavilion’s roof doubling as a park-like view deck and walkway that will lead to one of the three new public elevators among the Overlook Walk.
Waterfront Seattle
With the new Highway 99 tunnel scheduled to open this fall, the viaduct’s demolition should follow shortly thereafter. Construction for the Overlook Walk and Ocean Pavilion aren’t scheduled to begin until after the demolition of the viaduct is complete and the construction of the new Alaskan Way is underway. This leads us to an estimated start date of summer 2021, with both projects expected to be completed in tandem in 2023.