Doppler (building)
Doppler, also known as Amazon Tower I, and Rufus 2.0 Block 14, is a office building in Seattle, Washington that houses the corporate headquarters of Amazon. It is part of the three-tower campus that Amazon is developing in the Denny Triangle neighborood, located at the intersection of Westlake Avenue and 7th Avenue near the Westlake Center and McGraw Square. The tower houses 3,800 employees. The tower's name, Doppler, refers to the internal codename of the Amazon Echo voice-controlled speaker that launched in 2014.Construction
The Amazon campus, designed by Seattle architecture firm NBBJ, was approved by the Seattle Department of Planning and Development in late 2012 and excavation on Tower I began under the direction of Sellen Construction in June 2013. The tower was topped out in February 2015 and opened on December 14, 2015.Design
The 37-story building also has a five-story meeting room center, featuring an amphitheater and stage with stadium-style seating for 2,000, and six stories of underground parking with 1,064 spaces; there is also retail space at the ground level leased out to shops and restaurants, including a Starbucks, Skillet Street Food, Marination, Mamnoon, Anar, Potbelly Sandwich Shop, Cinque Terre Ristorante, and two restaurants from local chef Josh Henderson. The project, covering the entire three-block campus, is also on track to receive LEED Gold certification. The facade uses dichroic glass to reflect light in varying colors dependent on the time of the day.
The site was once proposed for a 31-story mixed-use high-rise, known as the Seventh at Westlake Tower. However, the plans were canceled in 2012 after being on hold for four years.
