The Mukilteo Multimodal Ferry Terminal is at once beautiful and practical. Built on the waterfront site where the Point Elliott Treaty was signed in 1855, a spot tribal communities have used for centuries, its elevated design is celebrated with the humble materials of wood, steel and concrete.
With input from Coast Salish tribes, the architects of LMN designed the building to reference the longhouse form, says Mette Greenshields, ’95, ’97, the architect who oversaw the construction.
The terminal has many ties to the University of Washington. One of the Native artists who created works for the project, master carver James Madison (Tulalip), ’00, brought his blend of traditional design and modern approach to a pair of two-story glass murals tell the tale that he learned from his grandfather about an underwater village. And structural engineer Dan Alire, ’02, considered research from the UW’s Civil & Environmental Engineering Structural Research Laboratory. Concrete-filled steel tubes support the wharf.
The new terminal opened with little fanfare in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. But it has since drawn worldwide recognition for its cultural and ecological elements. “It’s definitely one of my favorite projects,” Greenshields says. “It’s like this little jewel box. And it’s right in our back yard.”
