Experience Center One has received the Judges’ Choice Award for Innovation and Design Excellence at the 2026 CREDA Washington State Night of the Stars.
“Surrounded by the Pacific Northwest forest, this iconic structure creates an extraordinary connection between architecture and nature,” the judges noted. “The judges were so impressed by its visionary and thoughtful execution that they felt it deserved an honor all its own.”
After rounding a curve in a winding forest drive, guests entering the Redmond campus of this global technology company are greeted with a dramatic view of Experience Center One. A cantilevered glass and wood building hovers above the forest floor, reflecting the surrounding conifer treetops — a striking display embodying our client’s innovative spirit, their respect for the beauty of the region, and their belief in the importance of accessibility and transparency. Experience Center One receives partners and customers arriving from around the world, serving as a front door for the recently reimagined 72-acre campus. Civic in scale without overshadowing its neighbors, the building blends nature, hospitality, and innovation to leave a lasting impression.
The site was originally flagged for clearing, but the design team saw the mature Douglas firs as the project’s defining asset. Our team shaped the building footprint around root systems and the natural movement of water across the sloping site, preserving the mature forest canopy and producing a dynamic, terraced ground plane in return. Wide, universally accessible ramps wind visitors through the trees toward the entry, transforming an ecological constraint into a procession that feels simultaneously humble and dramatic.
The project’s relationship to the landscape extends beyond experience to building performance. Careful siting and massing preserve existing trees and restore habitat, while all-electric systems, green roofs, a field of geowells, and dowel-laminated mass timber support long-term carbon reduction goals. The project achieves 43% energy cost savings and 64% indoor water-use savings from baseline and is LEED Platinum and Living Building Challenge Net Zero Carbon pre-certified. A 26,000-gallon tank below the first floor collects and filters approximately 422,682 gallons per year for landscape irrigation. The client’s commitment to eliminating gas meant that a first-class kitchen needed to embrace induction and all-electric appliances. The result is a kitchen predicted to use more than 75% less energy than its traditional counterparts, and a more equitable, comfortable, and healthy environment for kitchen staff. Tracked through construction and closeout under Living Future’s Net Zero Carbon protocols, the project achieved a 66.3% reduction in embodied carbon.
View Experience Center One on the CREDA Washington State site
