Rock Island

In 2013, an earthquake severed the 280-foot-deep submarine cable connecting the San Juan Islands to the mainland, cutting phone, internet, and 911 service across the county for ten days. The outage revealed the fragility of the islands’ communications infrastructure. When no telecom provider was willing to take on the challenge of serving a remote, dispersed, and difficult-to-maintain geography, the local power co-op stepped forward to build a community-owned hybrid fiber and wireless network. Launched in 2015, Rock Island Communications was created to connect the islands across bedrock, forest, water, and terrain that traditional providers had deemed impractical. As a company built by and for the residents of the San Juan Islands, Rock Island’s new headquarters is more than an operations center. The ground-up building brings together corporate offices, field crew quarters, technical production, and supply warehousing with public workstations, conference rooms, and indoor-outdoor gathering spaces for education, events, and community use. The architecture is composed as a pair of asymmetrical gabled forms, their profiles subtly recalling the ridgeline of nearby Mount Baker. Clad in matte black standing-seam metal and carved with cedar-lined openings, the building balances durability with warmth. Clerestories, skylights, and carefully placed light shelves draw daylight deep into the plan. Inside, translucent Polygal partitions allow light to pass between rooms while maintaining acoustic and visual separation. An executive suite doubles as an all-hands meeting space and opens to an outdoor terrace oriented toward the neighboring nature preserve. Below, a public gathering court connects to a generous rec room and kitchen designed to host island events such as CPR trainings, club meetings and town halls.