The UW Tower is a high-rise

office building An office is a space where the employees of an organization perform administrative work in order to support and realize the various goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific du ...

complex located in the University District of

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 ...

, United States. It was completed in 1975 and serves as the head offices of the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

. The 22-story tower was designed by

NBBJ NBBJ is an American global architecture, planning and design firm with offices in Boston, Columbus, London, Los Angeles, New York, Portland, Pune, San Francisco, Seattle and Shanghai. NBBJ provides services in architecture, interiors, planning ...

. It reaches a height of , making it Seattle's tallest building outside the

Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

area. The tower was originally constructed as Safeco Plaza to serve as Safeco Insurance's headquarters. It was generally referred to as the Safeco Building. Safeco sold the property to the

in 2006 for $130 million, and moved out one year later. The purchase from Safeco included Safeco Tower, three adjacent buildings, a residential building with 29 units, two parking garages and two surface

parking lot A parking lot or car park (British English), also known as a car lot, is a cleared area intended for parking vehicles. The term usually refers to an area dedicated only for parking, with a durable or semi-durable surface. In most jurisdi ...

s. Presently the university properties consist of the UW Tower itself, Buildings A, C, O, and S, the Collegiana building, two garages, and two surface lots.

Architecture

The tower and surrounding complex were designed by Robert Sowder of Naramore, Bain, Brady and Johanson, a Seattle-based architecture firm. Its exterior uses a mix of precast concrete and terracotta elements in "earth tones" to match other buildings in the area. The tower sits on a series of octagonal columns that rise from the street-level plaza, which sits under part of the structure.

Tenants

Although much of the building is used for administrative purposes, various schools and departments at the University of Washington, especially the medical sciences, have offices in the UW Tower. These include UW Information Technology (UW-IT), the UW Payroll Office, University Advancement and Professional and Continuing Education.

Gallery

File:Mt. Baker and UW Tower.jpg, UW Tower with Mount Baker in the background File:UW Tower.jpg, UW Tower in 2009 File:Seattle - Hotel Deca & UW Tower.jpg, Hotel Deca (''left'') and UW Tower (''right'') File:Hawaiian Chieftain on Lake Union 01.jpg, UW Tower pictured from

Lake Union Lake Union () is a freshwater lake located entirely within the city limits of Seattle, Washington, United States. It is a major part of the Lake Washington Ship Canal, which carries fresh water from the much larger Lake Washington on the east t ...

References

External links

* {{Authority control Skyscraper office buildings in Seattle University of Washington Buildings and structures in University District, Seattle 1975 establishments in Washington (state) Office buildings completed in 1975