America ByDesign: AmBD 2025

Located on Expedia Group’s 40-acre Seattle waterfront campus, the Prow is a biophilic retreat designed as a sanctuary for employees to recharge and inspire creative thinking.

The structure forms a precise architectural gesture within the landscape, integrating seamlessly into the campus’s series of cascading plateaus descending toward Elliott Bay. Its 800-foot-long canted stone riprap walls connect the building to the landforms that define the site’s coastal edges.

Rooted in the Pacific Northwest’s material and ecological context, the Prow’s design employs indigenous materials to reinforce its connection to place. The walls are composed of the same stone used along the Elliott Bay shoreline, while interior floors and ceilings are crafted from local Douglas Fir. Black-painted steel structures recede visually, emphasizing the natural palette.

The building’s planted roof merges with the surrounding terrain at two edges, concealing the retreat within its environment. As it inclines toward the Bay, the Prow emerges as a sharp, vector-like form—symbolizing the dynamic motion central to Expedia Group’s mission of travel. Extending 50 feet outward, the cantilevered plane shelters a floating deck, where fully glazed walls frame sweeping views of Elliott Bay and Mount Rainier, blending architecture, landscape, and the spirit of exploration.