Adobe Systems Campus
Quadrant Lake Union Center, Seattle, WA
Buildings Home > Case Studies: Office Buildings > Adobe Systems Campus
 The Waterfront and the Plaza buildings at Quadrant Lake Union Center serve as the heart
of Adobe Systems’ operations in the Pacific Northwest. The three-story U-shaped Waterfront
and five-story rectangular Plaza buildings contain 296,000 square feet of office space and
200,000 square feet of parking (approximately 725 parking stalls) as part of a larger campus.
To meet the needs of this prominent software development company, the buildings contain
2.2 million linear feet of data, voice, and fiber optic lines with over 10,000 ports, 9,000-amp
electrical service delivered through 290 miles of wire, and 1,022 tons of mechanical cooling.
The design criteria called for high ceilings with adequate plenum space for mechanical,
electrical, and communications routing. Adobe Systems, a software company that develops
products and technologies for print and electronic media, requires facilities that support high
mechanical (cooling) and electrical demands. At the same time, minimum floor heights were
necessary to meet city-mandated building heights. Both needs were met and sight lines for
neighborhood businesses and residences were preserved utilizing concrete framing.
The spans on the typical floors vary from 30 ft to 32 ft. A 9-in.-thick post-tensioned flat plate
is utilized for the floor system, which was designed for an 80-psf live load plus a 20-psf
partition load. Isolated areas of heavy loading, including outdoor assembly and plaza spaces,
were designed for a non-reducible 100-psf live load. Shear studs are used as shear reinforcement
at the 22-in. by 22-in. columns. This allowed as large and flexible a plenum space
as possible by eliminating the need for column drop panels. It also allowed for easier
mechanical and electrical access.
The lateral-force-resisting system consists of cast-in-place concrete shear walls, typically
12 in. thick, located around stair, restroom, and elevator cores.
In addition to the above benefits, concrete was specified on this project for the following
reasons. Construction estimates during the schematic phase confirmed that concrete was the
least expensive option; the fluctuating market price and availability of steel made concrete
a very attractive option. Also, exposed structural components are incorporated into the
architectural design. No additional fireproofing is required, since concrete provides superior
fire-safety benefits, as well as sound and vibration mitigation. Finally, with an aggressive
15-month schedule, post-tensioned concrete was constructed in a shorter time frame than
would have been possible with steel. Despite adverse site conditions, the foundation and
the superstructure of the buildings were complete in 7 months, and the entire project was
finished in 13 months.
Concrete framing was the best alternative for this project, since it provided the owner a
facility that met the mechanical, electrical, and space flexibility needs of a high-tech tenant.
Concrete also met the tight schedule and budget, and satisfies long-term life safety needs of
the occupants.
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Owner/Developer:
The Quadrant Corporation,
Seattle, WA
Architect:
NBBJ,
Seattle, WA
Structural Engineer:
Coughlin Porter Lundeen,
Seattle, WA
General/Concrete
Contractor:
GLY Construction,
Bellevue, WA
Ready-Mix Concrete
Supplier:
Lone Star Northwest,
Seattle, WA
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