It is widely considered to be the first notable suburban corporate campus on the American west coast and one of the most significant corporate campuses in the world. It is not only a striking example of the merging of environmental consciousness and company branding, but emblematic of a period of experimental modern architecture and landscape that was socially conscious and placed a particular emphasis on a sensitive relationship with its site. Furthermore, the building is recognized to have been one of the first open-office layouts in the United States. It is the former international headquarters of the Weyerhaeuser forestry company, located in the City of Federal Way, 25 miles south of Seattle, Washington. Designed by San Francisco-based architect Edward Charles “Chuck” Bassett of Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill (SOM) with Peter Walker, founding partner of Sasaki, Walker and Associates (SWA), and PWP Landscape Architecture, it was commissioned in the 1960s by George Weyerhaeuser, great-grandson of the company’s founder, and completed in 1972.

Set along a highly visible section of Interstate 5, the site consists of the original Weyerhaeuser headquarters building, a technology center, Weyerhaeuser Lake, North Lake, a Rhododendron Botanical Garden, the Pacific Bonsai Museum, and an estimated 7 miles of public hiking trails meandering through the heavily wooded 425-acre property. Its most recognizable feature is the low-slung office building, lovingly referred to as a “groundscraper” or skyscraper tilted on its side (a concept similarly explored by Arthur Erickson and Cornelia Hahn Oberlander for the Provincial Law Courts/ Robson Square in Downtown Vancouver). Spanning between two gentle slopes, the offices consist of a series of terraced concrete slabs, lushly planted with ivy and separated by full-height expanses of glazing. The building is flanked by a small lake to the north, and an idyllic meadow of colourful wildflowers and native grasses to the south, a favourite of nature photographers and the general public in the early spring. In an open office workspace set in a lush natural setting such as this, and with views out to the iconic Mount Rainier to the south, it is a design concept that has truly lived up to its intent to elevate the everyday experience of the employees.[1]

[1] Save Weyerhaeuser Campus nomination, Washington Trust for Historic Preservation’s ‘Most Endangered List.’