STONEWAY ROOFING SUPPLY, 1994
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON
MARK R. BLUBAUGH, ASSOCIATE ARCHITECT

Stoneway Roofing Supply grew over a number of years, gradually occupying seven buildings in a row. The buildings were constructed at different times in different styles and presented a disorganized appearance. With the growth in do-it-yourself construction, Stoneway Roofing Supply wanted to have a presentable appearance for the retail market. The design unifies the exterior finish material among the buildings and uses strong horizontal lines to tie the buildings together and create a consistent building height. The circulation linking the administrative areas in the various buildings has been relocated to the front wall to allow the creation of a regular pattern of openings. The administrative areas have relights to introduce borrowed natural light from the windows at the front of the building. Stoneway’s traditional brown and tan color scheme was abandoned in favor of a more eye-catching warm white with red accents.

Major Considerations: Budgetary considerations were first and foremost. The design needed to be inexpensive to construct, and require minimal maintenance. The material palette includes cement plaster and metal. Doors are metal or medium density overlay plywood to allow maximum paint life. The owner wanted the option to up-grade the existing windows to double pane at a later time, so the existing windows were trimmed with medium density overlay plywood trim before the cement plaster was installed, to provide a low maintenance trim while at the same time allowing the windows to be removed without breaking the cement plaster.