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United Shopping Tower

Seattle, Italy

United Shopping Tower

The Olympic Tower, originally known as the United Shopping Tower, then the Northwestern Mutual Insurance Building, and later, the Olympic Savings Tower, is a historic 12-story office tower located in Seattle, Washington and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was originally built

in 1929 at the Southwest corner of Third Avenue and Pine Street for the United Pacific Corporation under the control of Seattle investment firm Drumheller, Ehrlichman and White. It was designed by Henry Bittman who also designed additions to the building in 1939. The building consists of a ten-story reinforced concrete and terra cotta tower setback from 3rd Avenue but flush with Pine Street, on top of a three-story (originally two-story) base that fills the 113-by-108-foot (34 by 33 m) lot. A large part of the facade consists of large windows bringing natural light into almost every interior space. It was reported at the time of construction that the shopping tower had more glass in proportion to its size than any other building in Seattle. The building's original purpose was to house retail tenants, one per floor with a tea room on the tenth floor. The building was an early incarnation of...

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