July 28, 1999

John Boileau, John Boileau Architects

By SAM BENNETT
Journal Staff reporter

John Boileau

John Boileau

Firm: John Boileau Architects
Office: 5045 Baker Ave. N.W.
Year founded: 1986
Staff size: Three
Recent local project: Montreux Condominiums

Q: What areas do you specialize in?

A: Lately we have specialized in mixed-use residential and commercial retail. But we do have a background in education, medical, hospitality and others.

Q: What are some noteworthy recent projects?

A: The Montreux in Belltown was a project that we actually intercepted at an awkward stage, right after it began construction. Concrete was already being poured in the ground and we had to design the building as it was being constructed. There is design-build, but this was build-design!

Artistically, we wanted something that had a scale that would fit into the neighborhood, so we tried to add as much detail and relief as possible while still giving it the French hotel character that the owner [developer Chris Koh] had seen in Geneva. He picked the Montreux name in rememberance of the hotel where he had stayed a year earlier. He asked that it somehow relate to that kind of image: the mansard roof, curved dormers, iron railings, window modules and two-story ground form.

The Lynnwood Cycle Barn has a 40,000-square-foot showroom.

Even though we felt it fit well, we can't ignore the fact that justifying the use of an eclectic style is always a gamble. It comes down to how you assemble the elements. The University Village condo project is on a triangular corner piece of the Calvary Cemetery, near the University Village shopping center. It was designated a critical area, which means steep sloped, and many developers tried the property and gave up. We started out with a 46-unit project, five stories above commercial and parking, and in the course of meeting with a neighborhood group we decided to make it only two stories with 16 units and have them be very large, deluxe units. It's wing-shaped in plan, to fit the corner like a B-2 bomber. It has an extremely large courtyard in back, with parking, trellises, step planters and pavers.

Q: How have people reacted to the relatively adventurous Montreux?

A: We were afraid it would be a little hokey because it is such a callback to a previous style, and yet it varies so much from literal French interpretations. People have called and written and thanked me for a building they really like. They love the scale and feel and say it's a real treasure for the neighborhood. That's never happened to me before.

Q: How do you handle the tight deadlines with projects like the Montreux?

University Village is a 16-unit deluxe condo adjacent to University Village shopping center.

A: I think most architects perform best under pressure. When you have something you have to do, you don't fiddle around with it. You work hard at getting to a solution. Frank Lloyd Wright waited until the client was on his way in order to design Falling Water. He just worked very well under pressure, and other architects are the same.

Q: Do you have a particular design approach or do you let the client dictate?

A: It's different with every project. We let the client give us a lead and just try to follow that where it goes. We don't follow any form philosophy. It makes it difficult to re-use those CAD details!

Q: Any style elements you are particularly fond of?

A: I'm a hat person. I just think a well dressed building needs a hat or something to cap it off. I am also drawn to the European tradition. I love some of those little towns. I use balconies, railings and chimneys whenever I can. We actually had chimneys on the Montreux but deleted them because of marketing measures.

Q: What buildings do you like downtown?

The Montreux in Belltown combines European elements such as a Mansard roof and curved dormers.

A: I like the Washington Mutual tower and many buildings in Pioneer Square. Washington Mutual recalls a lot of graceful old forms and elements in a very handsome way.

Q: What drew you to architecture?

A: I started out wanting to be a civil engineer, designing bridges like a fellow named Pier Luigi Nervi. Then I found out that civil engineers design pipes underground that you don't even see, so I marched over to architecture school and never looked back.

Q: What do you like about being a small firm?

A: I enjoy the ability to be hands-on with the project through all phases. I was always a project designer when I did my apprenticeship and now I can especially concentrate on that on my own. The inherent need to be versatile, self-reliant and maintain a fairly high level of efficiency allows us to occasionally put in a "Lance Armstrong performance."

Previous columns:

• Lorne McConachie, Bassetti Architects, 07-21-1999
• Kenichi Nakano, Nakano Associates L.L.C., 07-14-1999
• Kurt Nordquist, Skilling Ward Magnusson Barkshire, Inc., 07-07-1999
• Douglas Bailey, Integrus Architecture, P.S., 06-30-1999
• Amy Haugerud, RoseWater Engineering, Inc., 06-23-1999
• Karen Braitmayer and George Hallowell, Studio Pacifica, Ltd., 06-16-1999
• Fulton Tony Gale III, 06-09-1999
• SKB Architects, 06-02-1999