Trinity Lutheran chapel design wins architectural award

  • By Jim Davis The Herald Business Journal Editor
  • Friday, March 6, 2015 4:50pm
  • Business

A Stanwood architectural firm has won an award for its work on the chapel and surrounding floor remodel at Trinity Lutheran College.

Designs Northwest Architects planned the Brammer Chapel and Center for Art &Visual Communication in 2013 for the college in downtown Everett.

“We were asked to design something unique and I was really pleased with that space and excited about it,” said Dan Nelson, the firm’s principal architect. “I think (the award) was an affirmation.”

Designs Northwest received an award of merit on Feb. 20 from the Northwest Washington Chapter of the American Institute for Architects.

The remodel is designed so that people walk off the elevator onto the fifth floor of the college into a small foyer with a curved wall. A baptismal font is to one side and small side chapel is to another.

Behind the wall, is the chapel with a glass wall at the back that looks out onto a visual communications lab, the student lounge and then to the outside where people can view the water and mountains.

“One of the things that we thought about is part of our college is service to our area,” said Trinity Lutheran president John Reed. “It’s kind of fun that we’re out looking out into the world that we’re a part of.”

Trinity Lutheran moved to Everett in fall 2008 into the former Bon Marche building at 2802 Wetmore Ave. At first the college wasn’t using the fifth floor of the building.

Then, George and Jackie Brammer, an Idaho couple, gave the college a gift for the chapel.

The Brammers didn’t have a direct connection to the college, but did know Trinity Lutheran’s campus pastor, Erik Samuelson. They were friends with his father, Mark Samuelson, who was a pastor in Idaho and went onto to be a pastor at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church before retiring about a year ago.

The college was able to use the gift to remodel the 12,000-square-foot fifth floor and add the chapel. The renovation also added an art studio, president’s office, staff offices and art gallery.

The total project cost more than $800,000, Reed said. Kirtley-Cole Associates in Everett did the construction.

Since it opened, the college has used the chapel for weekly services, classes, outside guest lectures and even Super Bowl parties. The design was to create a “21st-century chapel” that can tap into the next door visual communications lab for multi-media presentations.

Reed praised Designs Northwest for listening to what they wanted for the floor and incorporating those ideas into the design.

“It’s an essential part of our campus building and we’re grateful for it,” Reed said.

The college and its community brought great ideas for what they wanted for the space, Nelson said.

“I always say without a great client — and Trinity Lutheran was a great client — we can’t do great projects,” Nelson said. “A lot of the credit goes to them.”

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Business

Black Press Media operates Sound Publishing, the largest community news organization in Washington State with dailies and community news outlets in Alaska.
Black Press Media concludes transition of ownership

Black Press Media, which operates Sound Publishing, completed its sale Monday (March 25), following the formerly announced corporate restructuring.

Maygen Hetherington, executive director of the Historic Downtown Snohomish Association, laughs during an interview in her office on Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024, in Snohomish, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Maygen Hetherington: tireless advocate for the city of Snohomish

Historic Downtown Snohomish Association receives the Opportunity Lives Here award from Economic Alliance.

FILE - Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs poses in front of photos of the 15 people who previously held the office on Nov. 22, 2021, after he was sworn in at the Capitol in Olympia, Wash. Hobbs faces several challengers as he runs for election to the office he was appointed to last fall. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)
Secretary of State Steve Hobbs: ‘I wanted to serve my country’

Hobbs, a former Lake Stevens senator, is the recipient of the Henry M. Jackson Award from Economic Alliance Snohomish County.

Mark Duffy poses for a photo in his office at the Mountain Pacific Bank headquarters on Wednesday, Feb. 14, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
Mark Duffy: Building a hometown bank; giving kids an opportunity

Mountain Pacific Bank’s founder is the recipient of the Fluke Award from Economic Alliance Snohomish County.

Barb Tolbert poses for a photo at Silver Scoop Ice Cream on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
Barb Tolbert: Former mayor piloted Arlington out of economic brink

Tolbert won the Elson S. Floyd Award, honoring a leader who has “created lasting opportunities” for the underserved.

Photo provided by 
Economic Alliance
Economic Alliance presented one of the Washington Rising Stem Awards to Katie Larios, a senior at Mountlake Terrace High School.
Mountlake Terrace High School senior wins state STEM award

Katie Larios was honored at an Economic Alliance gathering: “A champion for other young women of color in STEM.”

The Westwood Rainier is one of the seven ships in the Westwood line. The ships serve ports in the Pacific Northwest and Northeast Asia. (Photo provided by Swire Shipping)
Westwood Shipping Lines, an Everett mainstay, has new name

The four green-hulled Westwood vessels will keep their names, but the ships will display the Swire Shipping flag.

A Keyport ship docked at Lake Union in Seattle in June 2018. The ship spends most of the year in Alaska harvesting Golden King crab in the Bering Sea. During the summer it ties up for maintenance and repairs at Lake Union. (Keyport LLC)
In crabbers’ turbulent moment, Edmonds seafood processor ‘saved our season’

When a processing plant in Alaska closed, Edmonds-based business Keyport stepped up to solve a “no-win situation.”

Angela Harris, Executive Director of the Port of Edmonds, stands at the port’s marina on Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024, in Edmonds, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Leadership, love for the Port of Edmonds got exec the job

Shoring up an aging seawall is the first order of business for Angela Harris, the first woman to lead the Edmonds port.

The Cascade Warbirds fly over Naval Station Everett. (Sue Misao / The Herald file)
Bothell High School senior awarded $2,500 to keep on flying

Cascade Warbirds scholarship helps students 16-21 continue flight training and earn a private pilot’s certificate.

Rachel Gardner, the owner of Musicology Co., a new music boutique record store on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024 in Edmonds, Washington. Musicology Co. will open in February, selling used and new vinyl, CDs and other music-related merchandise. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Edmonds record shop intends to be a ‘destination for every musician’

Rachel Gardner opened Musicology Co. this month, filling a record store gap in Edmonds.

MyMyToyStore.com owner Tom Harrison at his brick and mortar storefront on Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2022 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Burst pipe permanently closes downtown Everett toy store

After a pipe flooded the store, MyMyToystore in downtown Everett closed. Owner Tom Harrison is already on to his next venture.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.