Step Inside A Reimagined Seattle Hotel With A Biophilic Design

Currently the talk of the town, the new Populus Seattle is rooted in history. Located in Pioneer Square, Seattle’s oldest neighborhood, the 120-room boutique hotel sits in the 1907 Westland Building, which has been thoughtfully reimagined by the Denver-based hotelier. With architecture by local firm Miller Hull, the carbon-positive hotel embraces its Northwest location with a biophilic design inspired by the region’s lush landscape, most notably with G(host) Forest, an installation of three nurse logs in the entry vestibule. “This installation recalls the towering trees that once stood here at the edge of the Salish Sea prior to logging in the area,” explains Mike Jobes, Miller Hull principal. “They also nod to the old-growth Douglas fir beams that form the structure of the building.” Interiors by Curioso continue the forest theme, with a glass-wrapped solarium off the second-floor restaurant where a bevy of potted plants suspend from the ceiling. Guest rooms combine tactile materials like raw wood and forged steel befitting the building’s industrial past—it originally served as a steam supply warehouse. Upstairs on the neighborhood’s first and only rooftop bar, landscape designers Site Workshop installed native plantings that attract butterflies, hummingbirds and bumblebees. All told, Populus stands as a love letter to Seattle’s heritage, one that offers a bold new statement on sustainable design.