The five-story Weyerhaeuser Corporate Headquarters building — often called a “skyscraper on its side” — is composed of gently sloping landscaped terraces that step upward. At each level, deeply recessed windows run continuously along each side of the building, uninterrupted by wall surfaces or metal dividers. With lush vegetation spilling over the terrace walls, the building appears to merge with the surrounding environment.
With the interior design, SOM was similarly guided by the idea of undefined boundaries. The office building contains no full-height interior partitions, resulting in a visual melding of the company’s different departments. The open office landscape is further emphasized by the column placement, which was governed by a diamond-shaped grid turned at an angle to the basic rectangle of the building.