May 2, 2025
Raw materials and history shine at BNBuilders’ new waterfront office
Spaghetti and meatballs are back at 2815 Elliott Ave. — aka the old Ainsworth & Dunn warehouse building that for over four decades housed a location for the Old Spaghetti Factory restaurant chain — but not in a digestible form. Those are now the names of two conference rooms at BNBuilders new office in the historic building.
The DJC first reported on the general contractor’s plan to relocate its headquarters to the property in January. The firm moved in last week. Before then, it was located in a significantly smaller office space (owned by Martin Selig) a few blocks away in Belltown.
BNBuilders is leasing the entire Ainsworth & Dunn building from owner Meriwether Partners. The building was last leased to co-working company Spaces. The property has three levels. Those include a two-story, 28,000-square-foot original brick building and a single-level rooftop addition. The addition was completed in 2019, after the closure of the Old Spaghetti Factory three years earlier.
The rooftop addition includes a wraparound 3,500-square-foot deck with views of Alaskan Way and Elliott Bay on one side, and city views on the other.
BUILDING A NEW HOME
BNBuilders has transformed the existing space with a new office layout and ample amenities. Employee desks are located on levels one and two in open-plan office areas. Almost all employees work in these areas (including the CEO), apart from a select few who have private offices for security reasons (such as HR professionals). The new office has capacity to seat about 150 employees, which is significantly more than the old office, and includes some permanent hoteling desks that can be reserved.
Employees have access to 18 conference rooms of varied sizes. Most of these are located on the first and second levels except for a signature boardroom in the top-level addition. The boardroom is circled by floor-to-ceiling glass, framing views out to the city and features a custom 21-foot-long live edge wooden table.
The layout on levels one and two places employee desks on the outside and conference rooms on the interior, so that employees can reap the benefits of natural light that comes into the building through large original — and operable — window openings.
During a recent tour of the office, Savanna Chow, the firm’s regional office manager, said the old office was lacking informal workspaces. To address this need, the new office includes hospitality-inspired seating booths on both the first and second levels. Also new are soundproofed phone booths, which Chow said have proven to be very popular with employees.
BNBuilders has converted the third floor of the building into an informal social/work space with lots of plush and casual seating areas. Amenities on this level include a large kitchen, complete with on-tap beers, one of which is a custom brew by neighboring brewery Here Today. For wine lovers, there is also a wine fridge, and pantries are stocked with ample snacks for the whole office to enjoy.
This floor is encased by floor-to-ceiling glass and is next to the rooftop deck. The contractor added a rolling garage door to one side of the addition so that the interior space can be opened to the deck in the warmer months. BNBuilders plans to host community events on this level in the future.
Other spaces in the building include smaller kitchenettes on levels one and two, restrooms on each level, and a mother’s room.
A CELEBRATION OF CULTURE AND CHARACTER
The office move comes as BNBuilders celebrates turning 25 this year, and the new headquarters is designed to be a living and authentic testimony to the firm’s history, work and culture.
“We wanted people to walk into our new home and for it to be obvious that they are in a general contractor’s office,” Chow explained.
To that end, there is a design focus on materiality, and both raw and finished materials really shine in the new office. These include original preserved structural timber beams and materials in new additions like a feature metal and wood staircase that stretches from the lobby to the top floor. The staircase steps are made from wood reclaimed from the original warehouse structure that has since been refinished. This refinished wood was also used to create booth tabletops in the lobby and a large kitchen island on the third level.
Architecture firm DLR Group designed the tenant improvements for BNBuilders. The salvaged wood was refinished by Urban Hardwoods, which is based in Georgetown.
Beneath the new signature staircase on the first level is a one-of-a-kind art installation made with steel, bolts and other fasteners used in the construction trade. The piece depicts the Seattle waterfront and waterfront buildings, including the Ainsworth & Dunn building, which is represented by a piece of brick. The other buildings are reimagined in steel. The artwork was fabricated by CREO Industrial Arts.
Another nod to the construction industry is seen in vibrant yellow dividing screens in the open office areas, fashioned after the color of on-site safety equipment.
Real greenery is placed throughout the office to soften the building’s industrial bones.
The design team has taken real care to not only preserve, but also to celebrate, the history of the building. Previous patrons of the Old Spaghetti Factory will likely remember the restaurant’s distinctive partially curved window frames. Those remain, but now have new glazing. Also untouched is an original wooden roof on the first floor, which remains a notable feature of the space.
A seating area in the lobby includes display panels that tell the history of the building. The Ainsworth & Dunn building was constructed in 1902 as a salmon processing warehouse for the eponymous firm. The property’s original brick exterior and first-floor heavy timber structural system are protected by city of Seattle landmarking.
In a nod to the building’s culinary past, all conference rooms on the first level are named after Old Spaghetti Factory menu items (including Spaghetti and Meatballs, which are two rooms that can be combined into one). Conference rooms on the second floor are named after local natural landmarks, and third-floor rooms carry the moniker of landmarks/areas in the other city’s where BNBuilders has an office.
The firm’s history and culture are also celebrated in the new Seattle office. There is a feature wall dedicated to the history of BNBuilders, another wall proudly displays the firm’s mission statement, and the third level has a community wall that employees will be able to add to. There are also a series of digital screens that show rotating images of the work of the other BNBuilders offices in Denver, Colorado, and Irvine, Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego, California.
History and high-tech meet at the office. Each conference room opens and locks electronically and is kitted out with modern audio-visual equipment. An interactive way-finding screen on the second level allows employees to book conference rooms, helps them navigate around the office, and provides recommendations for local restaurants and businesses.
Community culture and history are further reflected in a unique bookcase on the third level, filled with company awards, employee-owned books, and BNBuilders’ community creations, such as annual cookbooks. One “book” on the shelf is actually a leaver that leads to a secret speakeasy with rich red velvet couches that transports you to Las Vegas in the days of the Rat Pack.
The office layout is designed to encourage employee interactions to keep community culture strong. Microwaves are intentionally only located in the third level kitchen to urge employees to enter this social level. This level also includes an inside shuffleboard table and a firepit and grill on the rooftop deck.
SUSTAINABILITY ON SHOW
One of the firm’s major commitments, and an important element of its legacy to date, is its focus on sustainability. Sustainability was a driving force of the office project. In addition to preserving and repurposing the building’s original wood, most of the furniture is secondhand or reused. The carpet from Spaces old space has also been salvaged and reused.
A dedicated feature wall on the ground level displays the project’s sustainable credentials. BNBuilders is expecting a trio of sustainable certifications for its new home: LEED Gold (expected summer 2025), Zero Carbon Certification (expected spring 2026), and Fitwel (expected in summer 2025).
The tenant improvements took approximately seven months to complete.
Chow said the new office has been a big hit with employees and that the firm is really enjoying the new area and interacting with the local community.
“We are really proud of this project and its commitment to sustainability,” Chow reflected. “I’m also really pleased with how well we were able to weave our personality into the space.”
The subcontractor team for the office tenant improvements also includes MacMiller, M/P; Precision Electrical, electrical/LV; Cosco, fire protection; Apex, steel diversified; AVNorthwest Woodworks, Casework; Recor, doors/frames/hardware; Goldfinch, Glazing; Legacy, Historical Glazing; W, commercial flooring; Washington Commercial Painting; Heartland, ACT; TubeArt, signage; Metropolitan Appliances; Infinity, window coverings; Seattle Plant Company; Sazan, commissioning; Bergsma, fencing; Barclay Dean, specialties; Cressy Door , overhead door; Zesbaugh, operable partition; Intertek, special inspections, and All Direction, cleaning.
Emma Lapworth can be
reached by email or by phone
at (206) 622-8272.
