Vertical Bellevue: Architecture Above a Boomburb Skyline

The commercial downtown has become a concentrated collection of vertical skyscrapers dominated by glass panels, steel framework and concrete support. The cumulative effect has created a profound and concentrated nucleus leaving a prototype for future architectural styling and aesthetic interplay.

The shifting of office space by Amazon from Seattle to Bellevue has hastened the latter city’s growth. Bellevue’s employment and residential capacity continues to expand. The Sound Transit’s Link Rail development infrastructure currently connects Seattle with Bellevue before continuing further onto Redmond servicing the high technology community.

Bellevue will become the barometer for measuring and evaluating and the longevity and durability for early twenty-first century design. Whether strictly fashionable or the foundational base for sustainability, the city is leading the forefront of development into the future.

Suburban architecture projects dominated the focus of Puget Sound’s architects post-World War II. The construction of the initial bridge across Lake Washington in 1939 radically changed Bellevue from merely being a farming community into a residential suburb directly linked with Seattle.

In 1940, Bellevue had only a population of 5,000 residents. That figure would only modestly increase to 6,000 by the end of the war. Population increases continued gradually throughout the 1950s. In the 1960 census, the population had reached 13,000. The 1960s witnessed a population expansion that by 1970 had increased the level to 61,000 residents. The emergence of the tech industry had a profound growth effect upon the city. In 1990, the population increased to 98,000 swelling to 152,000 by 2020. The city is currently ranked the 178th largest in the United States. City projections envision a 25% growth rate over the next twenty years.

Bellevue was officially incorporated in 1953. In 1963, the Evergreen Point Bridge opened across Lake Washington becoming a second commuter option. The positioning solidified Bellevue’s central hub status from Seattle into the Eastside suburbs. Essentially a bedroom community, Bellevue evolved into a major commercial center.

Bellevue steadily cultivated a business core attracting finance. insurance and real estate corporate headquarters. Two of the most prominent included T-Mobile and Smartsheet. The demographic educated base and elevated quality of life enticed decision makers at Google, Facebook and Amazon to establish a growing corporate presence. Additional technology firms and start-ups have followed.

The rate of growth within the downtown core accelerated beginning in 1996. Five initial skyscrapers were erected during the 1980s before development stalled during the early 1990s. A major element of the renewed stimulus involved creating a pedestrian friendly urban environment. Long range city-planning decisions created accompanying priorities to accommodate the influx of anticipated pedestrian traffic creating a desirable environment.