HASTINGS 2025 Seattle Firm Trip

Each year, our entire staff embarks on a field trip to a dynamic city to explore significant works of architecture, interior design, and urban design. It’s a trip dedicated to travel, learning, and building connections with one another. Firms across the country have graciously provided guided tours of their projects, offering firsthand insights and lessons learned. The Firm Trip is a unique opportunity to foster shared experiences that not only strengthen our relationships but also inspire our design work.

This year, in celebration of our 40th anniversary, our journey took us to Seattle—for two full days of discovery. 

We began at Chapel of St. Ignatius, Steven Holl Architects' iconic 1997 project at Seattle University. The experience of "Seven Bottles of Light in a Stone Box" brought Holl’s concept to life, reminding us how light—and the way it’s shaped—can define a space. 

Next, we visited REN, a new high-rise apartment tower by ZGF. REN’s form responds to its compact, triangular site, acting as a key connector between the Denny Triangle and South Lake Union neighborhoods. We then explored the Amazon Spheres, a striking, multi-story glass enclosure designed by NBBJ. Filled with over 40,000 plants from around the globe, our team was in awe of the architectural statement that the Spheres has become to be. 

In the afternoon, we toured the Climate Pledge Arena, home to the NHL’s Seattle Kraken and the WNBA’s Seattle Storm. As the world’s first certified zero-carbon arena, the venue sets an impressive standard for sustainable design. 

From there, we visited MoPOP, the Frank Gehry-designed Museum of Pop Culture, and concluded our first day with a water taxi ride across Elliott Bay for dinner at Salty’s. 

Day two began at the University of Washington, where we toured Founders Hall and the Life Sciences Building. Founders Hall—designed by LMN—is the university’s first mass timber academic building, reducing embodied carbon by over 90%. Nearby, the Life Sciences Building—by Perkins + Will—showed how photovoltaic glass can power not just one building, but several across campus. 

We gathered for lunch at Big Time Brewery, enjoying some well-earned downtime before heading back out for our final afternoon of tours.

Our next stop: the Seattle Public Library, designed by OMA with LMN. Wrapped in glass and steel, its grid-like structure gave us a full 360-view of the city, from floor to ceiling.

Finally, we explored the Seattle Aquarium and Waterfront Redevelopment, where we saw how design can connect city, shoreline, and community in a thoughtful way.  

The trip concluded with a happy hour ferry cruise, taking in the skyline, sharing laughs, and reflecting on how far our firm has come over the last 40 years.