Harvard Exit Wins Best Adaptive Reuse Award from Historic Seattle
The Harvard Exit Theatre, now the Mexican Consulate, was awarded the Best Adaptive Reuse project by Historic Seattle for their 2018 Preservation Awards. We are honored to be part of this award winning team, which includes developers Eagle Rock Ventures, SHW Architects, Artifacts Consulting and Northwest Vernacular (historical consultant), and Frank Co. (structural engineer), and many more.
The Harvard Exit’s original windows were uncovered, repaired, and restored.
Constructed in 1925, Harvard Exit is located on Capitol Hill within the Harvard-Belmont Landmark District. The 17,000 square foot, three-story wood-framed and brick-clad building was originally built by the Woman’s Century Club, an organization fostering civic leadership among women.
The Grand Theatre is now the main public space where the Consulate services constituents.
The vision for the next chapter for Harvard Exit was simple: maintain its historic integrity while adapting the building into a modern Class A office space.
The Mexican Consulate is now the building’s primary tenant. Eagle Rock collaborated with the Consulate to meet complex program needs while honoring the building’s volumes, materials, and character. This includes a public gallery showcasing Mexican artists, a large horseshoe-shaped desk servicing Mexican nationals, a central conference room that transforms into a stage for live performances, and multiple private offices for diplomatic staff.
The third-floor Ballroom is now office space.
Great care was taken to ensure proper documentation, selective demolition, original fixture restoration, trim preservation and replication, and original window rehabilitation. The team worked with the City of Seattle’s Landmark Preservation Board and the Federal Department of the Interior throughout the process to ensure the improvements met the criteria from both agencies, as the project will receive Federal Rehabilitation Tax Credits.