During this busy holiday season, we invite you to pause + listen…

“Relationship” and “partnership” are words that come up often when describing 16 years of off and on construction for the Seattle Academy of Arts & Sciences [SAAS]. The relationship began in 2001 with an expansion project, a multi-level gymnasium at the center of their Capitol Hill campus.

Have you ever tried to move an oversized couch into an undersized apartment? Walked away in frustration, leaving it wedged in a door frame, thinking perhaps it looks just fine in the hallway instead of the living room?

The GLY talent pool runs deep, and not just when it comes to planning and building. Two accountants are novelists. One project manager is a detailed sketch artist, and a general foreman spends his free time creating oil-paint masterpieces.

As highrises become increasingly present on our horizon, built for clients looking for faster and faster delivery, we challenge ourselves to find room for improvement in our daily processes.

This is the story of how the craftsmanship of yesteryear inspired an unprecedented collaboration to preserve a unique piece of Seattle’s history—an effort empowered by today’s technology.

Think of any iconic structure defining our modern world and chances are, concrete played a big role in its creation: Hoover Dam, the Panama Canal, the Petronas Towers, the Burj Khalifa and Chesapeake Bay Bridge are all examples of this versatile material in its most impressive forms.