Aug. 18Warren C. Heylman was sure of his path in life, even as a kid growing up near Cliff Park's peak on the South Hill.
"I just wanted to draw," Heylman told The Spokesman-Review in 2016. "Ever since I was a little boy, that's all I wanted to do."
From that pencil came the designs for iconic structures of Spokane's skyline. The Parkade parking structure, the Riverfalls Tower on downtown's west end and the Burlington Northern rail bridge over Hangman Creek all owe their design to Heylman.
Heylman, a bow tie-wearing architect who went from designing Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired homes on the South Hill to massive public projects and affordable housing during the boom years of Spokane architecture, died Aug. 10. He was 98.
His career in Spokane coincided with a group of new, young architects that arrived in the post-World War II years and reshaped the look of the city, said Aaron Bragg, a copywriter who helped curate a Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture exhibit on the city's architecture during that time.
"There's a handful of architects who you can say truly shaped the city's landscape," Bragg said. "You can't imagine it without Warren Heylman's stamp on it."
Born Sept. 23, 1923, Heylman was the son of Jane and Harry Heylman. His father owned a Packard dealership he'd started after returning from World War I.
Warren Heylman went on to serve in World War II, and again in the Korean War, in the U.S. Navy after graduating from Lewis and Clark High School, where he ran track. That love of running lasted all his life and prompted him to compete in 40 consecutive Bloomsday races, said his daughter, Ann Martin.
"He ran the very first, up until he was 90 years old," Martin said. "He was very proud of that."
Always drawing plans, Heylman incorporated the features of the ships he was stationed on in the Navy into the design for the home he built for himself and his family in western Spokane, with windows intended to mimic portholes.
He opened his own one-man firm in 1952, placing ads in the newspaper that got him work designing homes. His early work showed the influence of Wright, the prolific American architect who pioneered open floor plans and efficient building methods, said Glenn Davis, a local architect and architectural historian who worked with Heylman briefly in the early 1990s.
"He was a very cost-conscious architect," Davis said. "Architects like Warren, and some of his fellow architects from that period, I think they were dealing with how to come up with aesthetics that dealt with lower construction costs, and a different attitude toward labor."
Some of those early homes still stand; others have been swept away by development and progress. One of Davis' favorites of Heylman's early homes was one built for the architect's childhood friend, John G.F. Hieber, in 1953. It was bought by a developer in 2012 who later demolished the house after trying to renovate it.
Among Heylman's first public projects were the Liberty Lake Golf Course clubhouse built in 1959, with its signature sloping roof. That design feature would also find its way into the plans for the Spokane International Airport, a collaboration with fellow architect William H. Trogdon.
"I think the plan does something important," Heylman told the Spokane Daily Chronicle in May 1965. "It brings passengers closer to the airplanes."
Later, architect Bob Wills who worked for Heylman for 19 years during a period that included work for Expo '74 would be tasked with updating that airport, expanding ticketing and baggage areas as travelers continued to flock to the Inland Northwest.
"We simply replicated the original design," Wills said of those expansions. "You couldn't do any better than that."
The airport opened in 1965. Within two years, Heylman saw perhaps his most iconic structure, the downtown Parkade parking garage, built to accommodate the legion of shoppers and downtown commuters Spokane boosters hoped to attract.
Heylman said he visited parking structures in 20 cities before designing the Parkade, with its signature sign proclaiming open stalls 10 stories above Spokane's downtown. His partner in the project was Hieber, who was doing his own work renovating the downtown Bennett Block.
"It also will be a beacon for motorists," Heylman said of the central tower in the Parkade, upon its opening in March 1967, "and serve as a landmark for drivers seeking parking space."
Heylman later opened an office on the ground floor of the Parkade, where he practiced architecture along with his daughter, Martin, for 35 years. The family also ran together downtown, in Bloomsdays and during work days.
Dennis Hession, the former mayor of Spokane, met Heylman through Martin.
"He was very much a visible figure," Hession said. "You would run into him, downtown. He was always around."
During the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, Heylman continued to receive recognition for his work from the American Institute of Architects, and was elected president of the Spokane chapter of the group in 1982.
Hession said Heylman was a man driven by principles, and that could be seen in his design work especially the lukewarm reception to the offices of what was then the Spokane County Health District, today the Spokane Regional Health District.
Heylman, in 2016, defended the work as "one of the best things I've done." But others disagreed.
Wills was part of the original drafting team that put together plans for the four-story, $5 million (in 1976 dollars) building. He built a scale model of the building in an effort, he said, to convince Heylman to reconsider the design. They even drove to Browne's Addition and put the model on the hood of a car, to simulate what the finished product would look like on the north bank of the Spokane River, Wills said.
"It totally backfired," Wills said.
Heylman stuck to his design, and in the ensuing years several regional architects, both identified and anonymous, publicly criticized the building's design.
"People have a reaction to his work, even if they don't know who did it," Bragg said. "You can't not have a reaction to a Heylman design."
"It's part of his strong personality, but it's also about conviction, the confidence in yourself as a designer," Hession said.
That confidence led Heylman to offer his advice, even when unsolicited. In the early 1970s, he wrote to Burlington Northern Railroad to criticize its plans for a rail bridge over Hangman Creek to replace their downtown line displaced by the world's fair. Heylman's simpler design was eventually built.
Heylman was also responsible for more than 1,000 units of affordable housing for the elderly throughout the region. His work includes the O'Malley Apartments near Gonzaga University.
He spent the final years of his life at Riverfalls, the modern apartment tower he designed overlooking Peaceful Valley that opened in 1973. He lived there with his wife, Kathryn, whom he called "Zeek." Kathryn Heylman died in March.
"My dad's world was centered on my mom," Martin said, adding that Kathryn Heylman sewed all his bow ties.
In November, Riverfalls became the first of Heylman's properties in Spokane to be listed on the Spokane Register of Historic Places. Buildings are not generally considered for inclusion on the list until they're at least 50 years old, said Megan Duvall, historic preservation officer for the city and county.
"I anticipate that we will see other Heylman buildings considered for the Register in the future," Duvall wrote in an email.
Martin's favorite building of her father's also has the distinction of being on the national register of historic places. It's another of his early works, the Colfax branch of the Whitman County Library, finished in 1960.
"It stands today as originally designed in the late '50s and early '60s," Martin said. "Prime example of Warren Heylman."
The family is planning a private graveside service. A celebration of life this fall has not been planned.
(c)2022 The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Wash.)
Visit The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Wash.) at http://www.spokesman.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Read more from the original source:
Warren Heylman, architect behind Parkade, airport and other iconic Spokane designs, dies at 98 - Yakima Herald-Republic
- Donald Judds Everlasting Influence - Curbed - September 20th, 2024 [September 20th, 2024]
- Architectural Billings See Continued Decline, Marking 19th Straight Month. - ARCHITECT Magazine - September 20th, 2024 [September 20th, 2024]
- Personal SpaceStep Inside the Homes of Eight Top Dallas Architects - D Magazine - September 20th, 2024 [September 20th, 2024]
- Architects tell board to make decisions - The Daily Standard - September 20th, 2024 [September 20th, 2024]
- Law Roach, the Architect of Zendayas Red-Carpet Style - The New Yorker - September 20th, 2024 [September 20th, 2024]
- What made this project the London Institute for Healthcare Engineering by HLM Architects - Building Design - September 20th, 2024 [September 20th, 2024]
- With Major New Awards, RKTB Spreads National Message of Attainable Housing for All in Era of Unmet Need - Archinect - September 20th, 2024 [September 20th, 2024]
- National Academy of Design names architects to its 2024 list of Academicians - The Architect's Newspaper - September 20th, 2024 [September 20th, 2024]
- Fox's chief political anchor interviewed the architect of Project 2025. Here are some of the details he failed to mention. - Media Matters for America - September 20th, 2024 [September 20th, 2024]
- Landscape Architects Rise to the Challenge of Coastal Flooding - ArchDaily - September 20th, 2024 [September 20th, 2024]
- Studio Gang unites five disciplines at the University of Kentuckys new Gray Design Building - The Architect's Newspaper - September 20th, 2024 [September 20th, 2024]
- The architect of the Bison football dynasty - INFORUM - September 20th, 2024 [September 20th, 2024]
- A star architect reflects on his visions for San Francisco that never got built - San Francisco Chronicle - September 20th, 2024 [September 20th, 2024]
- Architects build self-sufficient Smi community hub to withstand extreme conditions north of Arctic Circle here's how - The Cool Down - September 20th, 2024 [September 20th, 2024]
- An open letter to the board of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation - The Architect's Newspaper - September 20th, 2024 [September 20th, 2024]
- Girlroom by Samiha Room elevates the spatial politics of girlhood - The Architect's Newspaper - September 20th, 2024 [September 20th, 2024]
- Gallery of Landscape Architects Rise to the Challenge of Coastal Flooding - 1 - ArchDaily - September 20th, 2024 [September 20th, 2024]
- RIBA's Affordable Housing and Adaptive Reuse Shortlists - World-Architects - September 20th, 2024 [September 20th, 2024]
- Sean Godsells advice to the next generation of designers and architects - Architecture AU - September 20th, 2024 [September 20th, 2024]
- MWAA seeks architect for redevelopment of DCA's Terminal 1 - The Business Journals - September 20th, 2024 [September 20th, 2024]
- 'Remarkable honor': Ketchum architect recognized for use of sustainable materials - Idaho Mountain Express and Guide - September 20th, 2024 [September 20th, 2024]
- Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio: Everything You Need to Know About the Architect's First Home - Architectural Digest - September 20th, 2024 [September 20th, 2024]
- Sandpoint Downtown and Waterfront Revitalization in Idaho - e-architect - September 20th, 2024 [September 20th, 2024]
- Neuroscientists and architects are using this enormous laboratory to make buildings better - MIT Technology Review - September 20th, 2024 [September 20th, 2024]
- Exploring the East Village via the Swiss Institute - World-Architects - September 20th, 2024 [September 20th, 2024]
- Gallery of MAD Architects Metallic Tornado Is Taking Shape Above Rotterdams Museum of Migration - 1 - ArchDaily - September 20th, 2024 [September 20th, 2024]
- Designs of TenBerke and Mahlum Architects-led University of Washington residence hall project unveiled - Archinect - August 25th, 2024 [August 25th, 2024]
- Koichi Takada Architects' Upper House is a top-to-bottom display of craft and creative inspiration - Archinect - August 25th, 2024 [August 25th, 2024]
- The Pandemic Is History, but for Architects, Its Impact on Office Design Remains - Archinect - August 25th, 2024 [August 25th, 2024]
- TenBerke and Mahlum Architects reveal University of Washingtons Haggett Hall - The Architect's Newspaper - August 25th, 2024 [August 25th, 2024]
- PEI Architects adds a new geometric gateway to the Shanghai Free Trade Zone - Archinect - August 25th, 2024 [August 25th, 2024]
- The Longevity & Legacy of the 'Vanilla Architect': How a Monoculture Yields Cycles of Unconscious Bias, Tokenism, and System Justification -... - August 25th, 2024 [August 25th, 2024]
- Meet the Judges Behind ARCHITECTs 2024 Progressive Architecture Awards - ARCHITECT Magazine - August 25th, 2024 [August 25th, 2024]
- 16 Connecticut Interior Designers, Architects, and Landscape Pros to Know From the AD PRO Directory - Architectural Digest - August 25th, 2024 [August 25th, 2024]
- The next generation of architects building the new Nashville | - WPLN - August 25th, 2024 [August 25th, 2024]
- 2024 Women in Construction Maria Welch Bray Architects - Daily Reporter - August 25th, 2024 [August 25th, 2024]
- Inside the world's biggest football stadium: Architects working on the new Old Trafford reveal plans for 115,000-capacity venue in Morocco in bid to... - August 25th, 2024 [August 25th, 2024]
- House of Cluster / YD Architects - ArchDaily - August 25th, 2024 [August 25th, 2024]
- Look Inside These Award-Winning Architecture Projects In DC - Washingtonian - August 25th, 2024 [August 25th, 2024]
- Expert architects transform 80-year-old bungalow into remarkable passive home: 'It's as green as green building gets' - Yahoo! Voices - August 25th, 2024 [August 25th, 2024]
- Dezeen Agenda features Zaha Hadid Architects' Central Bank of Iraq - Dezeen - August 25th, 2024 [August 25th, 2024]
- JLand & Zaha Hadid Architects to Build Discovery City in Malaysia - Archilovers.com - August 25th, 2024 [August 25th, 2024]
- Interactive OKO Story and Animation Centre in Poland - e-architect - August 25th, 2024 [August 25th, 2024]
- Belgian architect Marie-Jos Van Hee is named the 15th Alvar Aalto Medal winner - Archinect - August 25th, 2024 [August 25th, 2024]
- Photos reveal Zaha Hadid Architects' Central Bank of Iraq nearing completion in Baghdad - Dezeen - August 25th, 2024 [August 25th, 2024]
- Traditional Windmill Restoration in Kherson, Ukraine - e-architect - August 25th, 2024 [August 25th, 2024]
- PNC Arena architects offer first look at how $300 million renovation could refresh arena - Raleigh News & Observer - August 4th, 2024 [August 4th, 2024]
- After 2 architects wouldnt bend to Syracuse Universitys will, SU targeted their employers - syracuse.com - August 4th, 2024 [August 4th, 2024]
- New Mogavero Architects President Renner Johnston brings philosophy background to role - The Business Journals - August 4th, 2024 [August 4th, 2024]
- GrooveCraft // A DJ Camp for Sonic Architects (ages 11-14) - Portland Art Museum - June 24th, 2024 [June 24th, 2024]
- Field Arts & Events Hall / LMN Architects - ArchDaily - June 24th, 2024 [June 24th, 2024]
- Finnish Museum of History and Future Selects Sigge Architects' Design as Competition Winner - ArchDaily - June 24th, 2024 [June 24th, 2024]
- Ceramics of Italy Holds Contest for Architects to Win Trip to Cersaie - Floor Focus - June 24th, 2024 [June 24th, 2024]
- Architects design self-sustaining home in mountains with remarkable features: 'The retreat offers a new model' - The Cool Down - June 24th, 2024 [June 24th, 2024]
- The 2024 Architectural League Prize for Young Architects + Designers Presents the Winners in Online Exhibition - ArchDaily - June 24th, 2024 [June 24th, 2024]
- Architect builds net-zero home with remarkable 'skin' that saves energy: 'Creating an extremely efficient, airtight envelope' - The Cool Down - June 24th, 2024 [June 24th, 2024]
- Architects announced for $42M Boise Airport project - KTVB.com - June 24th, 2024 [June 24th, 2024]
- 9 Unbuilt Zaha Hadid Buildings That Celebrate Her Bold Vision - Architectural Digest - June 24th, 2024 [June 24th, 2024]
- Architects organize first-ever 'Spruce Up' event for Juneteenth, connecting with East Knoxville community - WBIR.com - June 24th, 2024 [June 24th, 2024]
- Architects behind world's tallest building unveil gravity-based technology that transforms skyscrapers into batteries ... - Yahoo! Voices - June 24th, 2024 [June 24th, 2024]
- swiss pavilion to welcome visitors inside spheres engulfed by plants at expo 2025 osaka - Designboom - June 24th, 2024 [June 24th, 2024]
- Architects construct home with world's first concrete capable of absorbing air pollution: 'The design transpires into ... - The Cool Down - June 24th, 2024 [June 24th, 2024]
- Auditors Office Arrests Landscape Architect Accused of Fraud - Vicksburg Daily News - June 24th, 2024 [June 24th, 2024]
- Museum of History and the Future, Turku, Finland - e-architect - June 24th, 2024 [June 24th, 2024]
- Architect: Whose Title Is It Anyway? | Features - Archinect - June 24th, 2024 [June 24th, 2024]
- Termites are nature's architects, building well-ventilated nests - Earth.com - April 17th, 2024 [April 17th, 2024]
- County okays agreement with architect for renovation county office building - WspyNews - April 17th, 2024 [April 17th, 2024]
- hiroyuki ito architects' tenjincho place is a curving slice of nature in tokyo - Designboom - April 17th, 2024 [April 17th, 2024]
- New University of Mississippi Architect Contributes to 1000 Projects and Counting The Local Voice - The Local Voice - April 17th, 2024 [April 17th, 2024]
- Similar, but not the same: How qualifying as an architect differs between the US and UK - Building Design - April 17th, 2024 [April 17th, 2024]
- Charles E. Dagit Jr., award-winning architect, civic leader, and champion sailor, has died at 80 - The Philadelphia Inquirer - April 17th, 2024 [April 17th, 2024]
- Renowned architect to visit Stuckeman to juror student design competition - Penn State University - April 17th, 2024 [April 17th, 2024]
- Trial begins for man accused of throwing Des Moines architect over a railing to his death in 2016 - KCCI Des Moines - April 17th, 2024 [April 17th, 2024]
- 'It will be breathtaking,' Notre Dame's chief architect says; iconic cathedral reopens Dec. 8 - Detroit Catholic - April 17th, 2024 [April 17th, 2024]
- The reflection of a city in motion. West Bund Orbit by Wutopia Lab | The Strength of Architecture | From 1998 - Metalocus - April 17th, 2024 [April 17th, 2024]
- The best new metal songs this week: April 12 2024 - Louder - April 17th, 2024 [April 17th, 2024]
- Architecture and the Right to Housing - Canadian Architect - April 17th, 2024 [April 17th, 2024]
- Architect Tipton Housewright Says Too Much Parking is 'Bad Urban Design' - CandysDirt.com - CandysDirt.com - April 17th, 2024 [April 17th, 2024]
- Why architects sorely need a new approach to resourcing projects - Architect's Journal - April 17th, 2024 [April 17th, 2024]
- former textile workshop transforms into modern machiya residence in kyoto - Designboom - March 23rd, 2024 [March 23rd, 2024]