The 90,000-sf building has five floors of office space, one floor of retail space at street level and a three-level underground parking garage. The 45th Street Plaza building is located prominently on a small 12,000-sf lot on the corner of the busy 45th Street and 11th Avenue intersection, just a few blocks from the University of Washington campus.

"The major challenge was fitting the building and parking garage on such a small site and blending it in with the surrounding environment," says John Treiger, an associate with project architect MulvannyG2 Architecture and lead designer on the project. "A big part of the design solution was adding a number of architectural elements to help decrease the scale of the building, including balconies, decorative brick, a second-story landscaped terrace, and a custom metal sunshade."

A two-story, cut-away entrance on the southwest corner is designed to make a strong urban statement while inviting pedestrians into the building. Multi-colored masonry, retail storefronts and a second-level metal canopy also help give the building a neighborhood feel.