Then and Now: Washington Water Power building

In the bustling post-war era, Spokane produced a cadre of elite young architects who challenged and pushed each other with every project. That competition produced many notable features in the city, including the 1959 Washington Water Power building.

Section:Gallery

Mon., June 11, 2018

Circa 1959 - The Washington Water Power Headquarters on East Mission Ave., completed in 1959, in East Spokane was designed by Kenneth Brooks and Bruce Walker, two of the elite designers of their era. Key to the design is a “curtain wall” of windows and colored panels. The building won an national award from the American Institute of Architects. Lawrence Halprin did the landscape of water features, green space and walkways.

Photo Courtesy Of Dan Murphy Sr
The 1959 headquarters of Washington Water Power, now Avista Utilities, is still surrounded by the landscape design of Lawrence Halprin, who worked with architects Kenneth Brooks and Bruce Walker, to create the main building in 1959 and expand the utility’s 28-acre campus at Mission Ave. and Upriver Drive.

Jesse Tinsley The Spokesman-Review Buy this photo