John Graham & Company, or John Graham & Associates was the name of an

architectural Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

firm, founded in 1900 in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

, by English-born architect John Graham (1873–1955), and maintained by his son John Graham Jr. (1908–1991). The firm was responsible for many Seattle landmarks and a number of significant structures nationwide, including the

Space Needle The Space Needle is an observation tower in Seattle, Washington, United States. Considered to be an icon of the city, it has been designated a List of Seattle landmarks, Seattle landmark. Located in the Lower Queen Anne, Seattle, Lower Queen An ...

, Chase Tower of

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

, and the Westin Seattle. The firm was merged into the

DLR Group DLR Group is an employee-owned integrated design firm providing architecture, engineering, planning, and interior design. Their brand promise is to elevate the human experience through design. A self-described advocate for sustainable design, th ...

on May 19, 1986, and the name saw full deletion in 1998.

John Graham

John Graham was born in

Liverpool, England Liverpool is a port city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population of (in ), Liverpool is the administrative, c ...

, in 1873. He apprenticed as an architect in England as a young man. First visiting

, in 1896, he immigrated to the United States in 1900, starting a one-man architectural practice in Seattle. He started off modestly, designing mainly industrial-related buildings and private residences. His first notable project was designing the reconstruction of the Trinity Parish Church at Eight Avenue and James Street in 1902 after it had been damaged by fire. After a brief partnership with Alfred Bodley in 1904, Graham founded the firm of Graham & Myers with David J. Myers in 1906. He would work with Myers until 1910. As architect for the

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational corporation, multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. T ...

, he designed more than 30 of Ford's assembly plants between 1912 and 1940. Throughout the 1920s and 30s, he would design hundreds of commercial and public buildings in the Seattle area including the

Frederick & Nelson Frederick & Nelson was a department store chain in the northwestern United States, based in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington. Founded in 1890 as a furniture store, it later expanded to sell other types of merchandise. The company was acqu ...

store (now

Nordstrom Nordstrom, Inc. () is an American Luxury goods, luxury department store chain headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin in 1901. The original store operated exclusively as a shoe store, and a seco ...

) in 1916. He also helped found the Seattle Yacht Club and designed all of their original facilities. He retired from architecture in 1945 and died on March 20, 1955, while on tour in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

John Graham Jr.

Hobart Building 01 e 44 Montgomery Street

John Graham Jr. (1908–91) was born and raised in

.http://www.docomomo-wewa.org/architects_detail.php?id=60
/ref> After graduating from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

, he established a short-lived satellite office of his father's firm in New York City in 1937, and took over the main office in 1946. Renaming the firm to John Graham & Company, the firm expanded a relatively modest regional practice to an office with national presence. It was ultimately responsible for over a thousand commissions. Their primary focus was commercial projects. Many were straightforward mid-century modernist office towers, such as San Francisco's 1967

44 Montgomery 44 Montgomery is a 43-story, office skyscraper in the heart of San Francisco's Financial District. Groundbreaking was in the spring of 1964. When completed in 1967, it was the tallest building west of Dallas, surpassed by 555 California Stree ...

tower. But Graham was also responsible for early development of the enclosed shopping mall genre, notably Seattle's Northgate Shopping Center, which opened April 21, 1950, which anticipates the better-known

Northland Center Northland Center was an enclosed shopping mall on an approximately site located near the intersection of M-10 (the John C. Lodge Freeway) and Greenfield Road in Southfield, Michigan, an inner-ring suburb of Detroit, Michigan, United States. ...

in Detroit by four years. The firm would go on to design seventy malls nationwide. The authorship of Graham's single most prominent work, the

, is disputed. Both Graham's office and the Seattle architect

Victor Steinbrueck Victor Eugene Steinbrueck (December 15, 1911 - February 14, 1985) was an American architect, best known for his efforts to preserve Seattle's Pioneer Square and Pike Place Market. He authored several books and was also a University of Washingto ...

, a consultant on the project, claimed design credit; the design was also influenced by the

revolving restaurant A revolving restaurant or rotating restaurant is a tower restaurant designed to rest atop a broad circular revolving wikt:platform, platform that operates as a large turntable. The building remains stationary and the diners are carried on the rev ...

, the "Eye of the Needle", was Graham's conception. He'd already devised " La Ronde" for the Ala Moana Shopping Center in Honolulu in 1961, and was awarded a patent for the idea in 1964. Graham died in Seattle on January 29, 1991.

Prewar work

The following structures are in Seattle unless otherwise noted: * reconstruction of the Trinity Episcopal Parish Church, circa 1903 * Butterworth Building, 1903 * Pierre P. Ferry House, 1903–1906 * Joshua Green Building, 10 floors, 1910 * Bellingham National Bank Building,

Bellingham, Washington Bellingham ( ) is the county seat of Whatcom County, Washington, Whatcom County in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. It lies south of the Canada–United States border, U.S.–Canada border, between Vancouver, British Columbia, ...

, 1912–1913, with F. Stanley Piper * Securities Building, 10 floors, 1918 *

, now the

flagship store, 10 floors, 1918 * Dexter Horton Building, 14 floors, 1924 * Bank of California Building (Seattle), 3 floors, 1924 * Villa Academy, formerly Sacred Heart Orphanage, 1924 * Washington Building, 17 floors, 1925 * John Winthrop, 5 floors, 1925 * Montague & McHugh Building,

, 5 floors, 1927 * Hotel Georgia, 12 floors, 1927 *

The Bon Marché The Bon Marché (colloquially The Bon) was an American department store chain founded in 1890 by married couple Edward and Josephine Nordhoff. It was based Seattle, Washington, and served working-class families in the Northwestern United Stat ...

flagship store, now

Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc., doing business as Amazon, is an American multinational technology company engaged in e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. Founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos in Bellevu ...

, 7 floors, 1928 * UW Physics Building (now Mary Gates Hall), 1928 * The Roosevelt, 20 floors, 1929 * Joseph Vance Building, 14 floors, 1929 * Hartford Building, 1929 * U.S. Marine Hospital, now the

Pacific Medical Center The Pacific Tower, formerly the Pacific Medical Center, is a 16-story building at 1200 12th Avenue South on Beacon Hill, Seattle, Beacon Hill in Seattle, Washington, United States. It was completed in 1932 and opened the followi ...

, with

Bebb and Gould Bebb and Gould was an American architectural partnership active in Seattle, Washington from 1914 to 1939. Partners Charles Herbert Bebb and Carl Freylinghausen Gould were jointly responsible for the construction of many buildings on the Univers ...

, 1930 * Exchange Building, 22 floors, 1930 * Tacoma Municipal Building (Medical Arts Building), 17 floors, 1931 *

St. Edward Seminary Saint Edward Seminary (sometimes Saint Edward's Seminary) was an institution for developing Catholic priests in the US state of Washington. Dedicated to Saint Edward the Confessor and located in Kenmore, it operated for 46 years before closing ...

Kenmore, Washington Kenmore is a city in King County, Washington, United States, along the northernmost shore of Lake Washington. It is a suburban commuter town at the mouth of the Sammamish River, northeast of downtown Seattle and west of Bothell. The populat ...

, 80,000 square feet, 1931

Postwar work

* The Decatur, Seattle, residential building, 13 floors, 1950 * Northgate Mall, 1950 *

Gulfgate Mall Gulfgate Center, also known as Gulfgate Shopping City or Gulfgate Center, is a shopping center located in the East End, Houston, East End, Houston, Texas, United States.

, Houston, 1956 *

Northshore Mall The Northshore Mall is a shopping mall in Peabody, Massachusetts. As of 2025, the mall currently features Macy's in two locations, and JCPenney. The mall is near the Route 128 and Route 114 junction, and less than a mile from the Simon-owne ...

Peabody, Massachusetts Peabody () is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 54,481 at the time of the 2020 United States census. Peabody is located in the North Shore (Massachusetts), North Shore region of Massachusetts, and is known ...

, 1957 * AIA Building, 12 floors, 1958 * Ala Moana Office Building, Honolulu, 23 floors, including the first

in the United States, 1960 * College Grove Shopping Center, San Diego, regional outdoor shopping center with 3-story department store *

, an element of the 1962

Century 21 Exposition The Century 21 Exposition (also known as the Seattle World's Fair) was a world's fair held April 21, 1962, to October 21, 1962, in Seattle, Washington, United States.Victor Steinbrueck Victor Eugene Steinbrueck (December 15, 1911 - February 14, 1985) was an American architect, best known for his efforts to preserve Seattle's Pioneer Square and Pike Place Market. He authored several books and was also a University of Washingto ...

(disputed), 1962 *

Moorestown Mall Moorestown Mall is a shopping mall in Moorestown, New Jersey, owned by PREIT. The mall has over 90 stores and is anchored by Boscov's, Regal Cinemas, and Cooper University Health Care - Moorestown Campus. Junior anchors are Five Below, HomeSense, ...

Moorestown, New Jersey Moorestown is a Township (New Jersey), township in Burlington County, New Jersey, Burlington County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is an eastern suburb of Philadelphia and geographically part of the South Jersey region of the state. As of ...

, 1963 * The Ilikai Hotel, Waikiki,

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

, 1964 *

Yorkdale Shopping Centre Yorkdale Shopping Centre is a shopping mall in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, at the southwest corner of the Ontario Highway 401, Highway 401 and Allen Road interchange. It spans of selling space and has sales of per square foot ( per square metre ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, 1964 *

Financial District, San Francisco The Financial District is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California, United States, that serves as its main central business district and had 372,829 jobs according to U.S. census tracts as of 2012–2016. It is home to the city's largest con ...

, 43 floors, 1967 * Holiday Park Plaza, 16 floors, 1967 * Montgomery Mall,

Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. Located just northwest of Washington, D.C., it is a major business and government center of the Washington metropolitan region ...

, 1968 * Westin Seattle, south tower 1969 (built as the Washington Plaza Hotel), north tower 1982 *

Ala Moana Hotel The Ala Moana Hotel is a hotel in Honolulu, Hawaii, opened in 1970. It adjoins the Ala Moana Shopping Center and is across the street from the Hawaii Convention Center as well as the Ala Moana Beach Park. History The Ala Moana Hotel was desi ...

, the tallest building in Hawaii from 1970 through 1990, 38 floors, 1970 * Chase Tower,

, 27 floors, 1973 *

901 Fifth Avenue 901 Fifth Avenue is a skyscraper in downtown Seattle, Washington. It was completed in 1973 and has 42 floors. It is the 11th tallest building in Seattle, and was designed by John Graham and Associates. The building was opened as the Bank of Ca ...

, originally Bank of California Building, 42 floors, 1973 * Henry M. Jackson Federal Building, (joint venture with Bassetti/Norton/Metler/Rekevics), 37 floors, 1974 * One Capital Center, 14 floors, 1975 * State Office Building, 11 floors, 1975 * ABC Building, 33 floors, 1976 * Qwest Plaza, 33 floors, 1976 * Southern Union Tower, 20 floors, 1980 * US Federal Building & Courthouse, 1981 *

Lloyd Center Tower The Lloyd Center Tower is a 290 foot (88-meter) tall office tower in the Lloyd District of Portland, Oregon. At 20 stories, it is the tallest building in Oregon East of the Willamette River. It was designed by John Graham & Associates and was ...

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, 20 floors, 1981 *

Clackamas Town Center Clackamas Town Center is a shopping mall established in 1981Sorenson, Donald J. (March 7, 1981). "Clackamas Town Center opens its doors". ''The Oregonian'', p. A19. in the Portland metropolitan area, Portland, Oregon, metropolitan area, located o ...

, suburban

, 1981 * Sheraton Seattle Hotel, 34 floors, 1982 John Graham & Company

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Graham, John, and Company Architecture firms based in Washington (state) Defunct companies based in Seattle Architects from Seattle