SIFF FILM CENTER

The new year-round home for SIFF transformed the aging Alki Room at heart of Seattle Center into a vibrant media arts and education center, with a 90 seat multi-use theater / screening room, multi-media classroom and flex-spaces, exhibition spaces, archives, and offices for SIFF and the Film School. The theater is the visual and spiritual heart of the Film Center, serving as the focus for SIFF’s screen-writers’ salon and education outreach programs as well as providing a highly flexible presentation venue for Seattle Center cultural festivals. Exterior sunscreens integrate early film imagery to activate the exterior and express the vibrant activities within while increasing the effective sun-shading. Sustainable design features include energy efficiency upgrades, daylighting, adaptive reuse of an aging facility, and reuse of historic Cinerama theater seating. ORA provided extensive fundraising support throughout the programming and design process, including “fly-through” videos and extensive renderings as well as assistance with donor events and solicitation. The project completed construction in summer 2011, and ORA has continued to collaborate with SIFF since completion of the Film Center on upgrades to The historic Egyptian and Uptown Theaters.

Image Credits: Lara Swimmer, ORA