It’s undeniable now: the holidays are here. (We hope you enjoyed a full and festive Thanksgiving!). We have a couple favorite holiday traditions at GHDA. One of those is our annual holiday card, and we’ll share this year’s design soon. The other is the JDRF Gingerbread Village, a showcase for Seattle architecture.

Each year, our own Seattle architect Eric Drivdahl partners with the Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties to conjure up a delectable gingerbread scene. It’s part of an annual fundraiser for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation’s Northwest Chapter, and it’s a phenomenal way to exercise our creativity and embrace the art of (gingerbread!) architecture.

In honor of the event’s 25th anniversary, we walked through Seattle’s past and future and reflected on what makes our city special. (We loved taking a field trip to underground Seattle!) Our team studied Seattle architecture and recreated Pioneer Square as it was from 1890 to 1914, complete with the Seattle Hotel, Yesler Mansion, and Smith Tower.

We’ll check back in with more details on this year’s delicious stroll through historic Seattle architecture. For now, we invite you to embrace Thanksgiving weekend and enjoy the festivities with the Sheraton’s JDRF Gingerbread Village display at City Centre. If you need additional enticement, check out our previous gingerbread architecture below!

Fantastic Gingerbread Houses

Last year, we created a magical scene straight out of the world of everyone’s favorite boy wizard. A sugary triple decker bus and scrumptious clock tower stirred up whimsy and wonder in all of us!

Gingerbread Palace

Aladdin and Jasmine visited candy land in our 2012 fairytale castle.

Sweet Gare Du Palais

We looked to our neighbors to the north for inspiration in 2012 and transformed Quebec’s iconic Gare Du Palais train station into a gingerbread house for the ages.

Let us know what you think of this year’s display!