Case Study: Seattle Art Museum—Olympic Sculpture Park

Client: Seattle Art Museum Location: King County (Seattle), WA Contact for environmental projects: Doug Hillman

Project Background & Challenges

The Seattle Art Museum wanted to develop brownfield site — a former fuel transfer and distribution facility — into a vibrant public sculpture park. The industrial facility operated on the downtown Seattle waterfront for many decades, polluting soil and groundwater with petroleum hydrocarbons.

Solution

Aspect helped the Museum, along with its architects and engineers, convert over 8 acres into a public park with a parking garage, two-story pavilion, and pedestrian bridges. This high-profile project was completed under a Prospective Purchaser Consent Decree with Ecology, using a remediation approach that integrates elements of the park’s design and construction with barrier caps, soil cover, and moisture retentive plantings. These remedial measures were designed to address environmental risks associated with volatilization, leaching, and direct contact with residual soil contaminants.