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Continuing our tour of the Rainier Cold Storage Building Campus, let’s now take a look at the interior shots. I’m primarily concentrating here on the Brew House, as this area was the most impressive and the most well lit. As you can see from the shots, this facility is about as “raw” as a historic building can get. Some of the spaces, such as the Brew House, felt like real time capsules – it seemed as though I’d just stepped in the building after the workers had thrown down their equipment. Pretty amazing. Again, I consider this site to be one of Seattle’s crown jewels as far as historic architecture and I feel extremely lucky to have been given access to photograph it before the development process begins. How that will go, and to what degree these buildings can and will be preserved, remains to be seen. Rest assured though, we’ll be keeping an eye on how things shake out. Let’s get to the shots, but first check out the first set of exterior shots if you haven’t already. Click on the thumbnails for a larger view.

Upper floor of the Freezer Building. Just beyond the far wall is the ice freezing facility. The large machines seen through the doorway are ice crushing machines. Click here for the 1914 view.	This room housed the racks in which the ice was frozen into large blocks. Out of frame is a large conveyer that the blocks would be sent down in order to be crushed into cubes. The wall on the left corresponds to the exterior shots with the crumbling brick wall next to the train tracks.
First floor of the Brew House. As you can tell from the architecture, this was one of the first buildings of the complex to be built. Notice the intricate detailing on the metal staircase as well as the tile patterns on the ground. Click here for the view from 1907 and notice the palm trees.	Detailed shot of the staircase on the second floor. This floor was littered with loose bricks and debris from crumbling walls.
Alternate angle of the deterioration on the second floor. You can match up this wall with the exterior shots of the back side of the Brew House with the vines growing upward. This area had a definite blown-out WWII era feel to it.	These original walls were crumbling. Sabey officials noted that the asbestos problems were not as much of a factor as the copious amounts of ammonia piping throughout the facility.
Alternate view of original studs revealing themselves after 100 plus years. It looks as though the spiral staircase once continued up through another floor.	Floor three to four stairwells. The extreme level of dilapidation is very evident. One sign of the times, the metal staircase felt strong and sturdy despite the building literally falling apart around them.
Another view of the spiral staircase termination, an eerie reminder of the current state of the building.	Opposite side of the spiral staircase area. The large circular floor cutouts where brewing containers once sat are now boarded up. Click here for an image of this area photographed in 1914.
South side of the third floor. You can see plaster peeling and revealing a large structural beam. This area of the complex seems like an easy choice for living spaces.	Alternate view of the first floor stairwell. Off frame to the right is the base of the spiral staircase (see below).
North side of the Brew House first floor. The foreground of this shot is roughly where these palm trees once stood.	Interior of the Machine House building. These spaces do not have the natural light problem that the Freezer Building does. In addition, the space is in comparatively good condition.
Base of the first floor Brew House spiral staircase. I’m hoping this amazing relic is salvaged in some way.	First floor of the Machine House interior. The windows in this area are unlike any other in the facility and make for a brilliant sunset.

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