These Seattle Luxury High-Rise Residences Bring Modern Design Inspired By The City's Natural Landscape

Rising 40 stories above downtown Seattle's most desired and soon-to-be-reimagined waterfront, The Emerald is the city’s most highly-anticipated luxury condominium building being built steps from coveted Pike Place Market. Scheduled to open summer 2020, this unique faceted-glass tower is making history by becoming the West Coast’s tallest residential building and the seventh tallest building in the world, designed by a female-led team. Featuring the work of Julia Nagele, Principal, Director of Design - Architecture of Seattle-based Hewitt Architects, with interiors by local interior designer Susan Marinello of Susan Marinello Interiors, this striking building offers an elevated level of high-rise condominium living while bringing Seattle's natural shape and environment through its modern design.

"Seattle's luxury market has grown exponentially over the past few years with more buyers seeking the highest level of urban luxury high-rise living," said Julia Nagele. "Designed as the pinnacle of the iconic faceted-glass exterior building, The Emerald includes some of the most exclusive private residences in all of Seattle, setting a new precedent for residential high-rise architecture and design for the city."

The Emerald’s overarching design theme is its beautiful surrounding landscape. Nagele and her team used the project’s site dimensions as opportunities for clear straightforward architectural expressions. As a result, the massing of the building reflects the various angles of Seattle’s grid with the materials mirroring the natural landscape surrounding both the Puget Sound and the grit of the city.

“We intimately know the Pike Place Market and waterfront neighborhood, as we’re located next door to The Emerald,” said Nagele. “The design evolved as a response to its surroundings. It emphasizes neighborhood connections to Belltown and the transforming waterfront. The Olympic Room, a communal amenity space sitting at 440 feet in the air, is a favorite feature of the design. It’s a space designed to showcase powerful, unobstructed views of the region’s natural beauty. It is an oasis for residents as a unique contrast to the downtown scene.”

When approaching the interiors, Susan Marinello used the fundamental awareness and characteristics of the architectural design to drive her design aesthetic. Seattle’s exterior views informed the interior materials and are reflected throughout the residential tower’s interiors relating harmoniously to the architectural mass and materials. The views from all sides showcasing the water, mountains, sun, building lights and the ever-changing weather, all dictated a quieter interior palette that complements the breathtaking views.

“Our goal was to blur the division between interior and exterior, always letting the view be primary,” said Marinello. “My colleague Louisa Chang and I really dug into the shape of an Emerald Stone and found inspiration in how it is faceted and how the light reflects off the stone. Never to be literal, yet to add dimension and texture, residents will enjoy several faceted moments woven into the interior environment at the entry carrying through to the rooftop.”

“If you were to gather up the designers of skyscrapers in one room, most of them wouldn’t look like us,” concluded Nagele. “We come from a male-dominated industry which is why The Emerald is a milestone for women in architecture and design.”

Celebrating its grand opening this summer, The Emerald will become downtown Seattle's next new residential project to reach completion. As the city’s newest defining address, the building will bring 262 signature studios, one-, two-, and three-bedroom residences and penthouses listed from $539,000 to nearly $11 million. Designed for today's discerning buyer, The Emerald features highly curated amenities driven to enhance the building's premier location and breathtaking panoramic views of the Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains.

For more information on The Emerald or to schedule a virtual tour, please call 206-456-5043 or visit theemeraldseattle.com.