Washington State University’s Schweitzer Engineering Hall will become the new cornerstone of a planned engineering and architecture district when doors open to students in 2026.
As the future gateway to the Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture on the Pullman campus, it’s also a model for how progressive design-build delivery can maximize value for project owners while creating a shared sense of ownership for project teams across disciplines.
From the start, the team led by Lease Crutcher Lewis and ZGF Architects established a governance structure rooted in transparency and shared decision-making. Weekly “Big Room” meetings, held in person or virtually, allowed all project team stakeholders to address challenges early, iterate on the design, and stay closely aligned across disciplines.
While advancing the design, the entire project team also worked out of a single fully coordinated, fabrication-ready digital model updated in real time with the aim of eliminating rework and driving field efficiency.
Instead of using a traditional Request for Information system, or RFIs, where team members ask one another questions about specific aspects of a project, the wider group is using Lewis’ Collaborative Design Resolution (CDR) tool, where comments are posted in a live work environment for everyone to contribute to, and where the project team resolves questions collectively.
Navigating the terrain: financial
The building was carefully nested into a hillside to minimize costly excavation, and designed as a simple and highly efficient 144-by-144-foot ‘perfect square’ to maximize structural efficiency.
Early in the design process, the team used Target Value Design principles and benchmarking to ensure that the program fit within cost constraints.
The project team has embraced a strategy of prioritizing the construction of the shell and core, along with as much interior space as possible, while preserving unused contingency funds to complete unfinished shell areas. This approach relies on ongoing risk mitigation to maximize value as the project progresses.
The result is a phased delivery plan in which the ground floor (Level G) and Level 1 is fully built out, while the completion of Level 2 is tied to savings realized through careful contingency management.
At the outset, we committed to building out 50 percent of the interior space on Level 2. By the time we reached GMP, that number had grown to 59 percent. We’ve continued to fund more of the Level 2 buildout by mitigating risks and meeting key milestones as a way to meaningfully reinvest in the project. We’ve now committed to the full completion of the building and achieving 100 percent of the build-out on Level 2 for the 65,000-square-foot facility.
During the design process, we also identified a list of betterments — or desired program features beyond the core project requirements — that could be added as budget and risk allowed. One such betterment, a coffee kiosk, was recently reincorporated into the plan and will be operated by a local vendor.
Navigating the terrain: physical
A few tailored approaches to the project’s structural design have helped maximize value to the university.
The building’s form, a simple and highly efficient 144-by-144-foot ‘perfect square’, maximizes structural efficiency by designing to standard bay sizes. (In structural design, a “bay” refers to the span between vertical columns and horizontal beams.) The team was able to limit costs for steel fabrication and realize schedule savings for steel erection.
To maintain visual consistency across the building’s exterior, the team took a pragmatic approach to the design of the steel columns. While the lower levels required robust, load-bearing members, the upper floors need significantly less structural support. In response, separate and tapered steel columns are used on higher floors.
Another early design priority was determining how to nest the building into the hillside along South Spokane Street while minimizing costly excavation into the basalt layer discovered beneath the site.
One of the advantages of the early big-room collaboration model was being able to partner closely with the geotechnical and civil engineering teams to develop a strategy that turned site constraints into design opportunities.
The project’s largest classroom will be tiered to follow the natural slope of the hill, allowing the rear of the room to sit higher without requiring additional excavation. Similarly, an adjacent mechanical room was positioned at a higher elevation to align with the terrain and to avoid having to dig into solid rock.
This approach not only reduced site work costs but also freed up budget that can be reinvested into betterments like higher-value architectural finishes, most notably in shared spaces like the central “living room.”
Imbuing the design with joy
Early in the Project Confirmation Phase — the period for ensuring that a building is sized appropriately for the target cost and its programming and design requirements —we felt a strong desire to fit as much into the building’s program as possible within the available budget. The focus was on efficiency and maximizing every square foot. However, as the team worked through early plan diagrams, it became clear that something essential was missing from the program: joy.
When it came time to think about design, the team began asking deeper questions: What would the building feel like when someone walked in? What would create a meaningful and welcoming experience? This sparked a series of conversations about how to go beyond simply fitting in desired program components and instead creating an environment that evoked inspiration, energy and a sense of belonging.
To define what would make the space joyful, the team identified several key characteristics after surveying key project stakeholders: front-door experience, volume, light, visibility, wayfinding, coffee (!), materiality and furniture (accessible seating with integrated power sources). There was also a desire to add smaller pockets of open collaboration space throughout the building to appeal to different working and learning styles.
A major outcome of these conversations is a new central collaboration area planned near the entrances. This space has grown significantly in scale and importance and was nicknamed the “heart” or “living room” of the building. It’s envisioned as an open, flexible zone where students could gather, work together and connect.
As part of this approach, the team prioritized creating visual and spatial connections linking the different program elements, as well as openness and intuitive wayfinding. Examples include corridors that visually guide users where they need to go, like a learning center whose door is visible even from the far side of the space.
Furniture was seen as a critical tool for shaping space and circulation. Freestanding furnishings will help define zones without needing walls, while whiteboards will provide surfaces for spontaneous collaboration. This layering of flexibility and choice will empower user groups to shape their environment.
The steep grade along South Spokane Street also informed ZGF’s response to one of the most important project goals: creating a welcoming front door. The design team created two welcoming entry points: one on Southeast Spokane Street for students and the engineering community, and another entry mid-block along Northeast College Avenue for the broader university communities.
These entries are designed not only to invite people in, but also to orient them if they decide to walk through the building. A central feature stair draws visitors upward through the heart of the building, creating a clear, intuitive path that effectively navigates the grade. The design team used exposed cross-laminated timber decking (CLT) in the public-facing lobbies on both level G and the first floors to bring warmth and continuity between the levels.
Functional engineering on display
Collectively, the team explored how exposed building systems and structural elements themselves could contribute to the experience of learning, teaching and working in the building. Concepts like “engineering on display” informed decisions to expose structural elements, cross-laminated timber ceilings and MEP systems throughout.
Structural designers from Coughlin Porter Lundeen created design expressions for exposed brace frames and trusses in the building’s largest classroom. Engineering, architecture, and construction management students will now have tangible opportunities to learn about loads, spans and connections.
These elements have become an integral part of the building’s fabric.
Schweitzer Engineering Hall’s structure is now complete and enclosure work —including brick, glazing and sheathing —is underway. Crews are also installing the mechanical, engineering and plumbing systems. Construction is on track for a summer 2026 opening.
Enabling a lower-carbon future
Also in development as part of the Schweitzer Engineering Hall project is the construction the university’s first nodal utility plant, or NUP, that will initially serve Schweitzer Engineering Hall but have built-in capacity to serve other buildings in the future.
Located down the hill from Schweitzer Engineering Hall and adjacent to the existing Chiller Plant, the NUP will function as a neighborhood district utility facility that will generate a new low-temperature hot water (LTHW) heating source within the emerging district. This will help reduce carbon emissions — and the university’s reliance on fossil fuels — while meeting current and future energy demands. The plant is also positioned to support the campus’ chilled water system.
This 4,000-square-foot utility plant is part of a long-range plan to decentralize energy sources on campus through a nodal approach, and initiate the transition toward low-carbon infrastructure.
Joshua Thomson is the WSU Schweitzer Engineering Hall project manager at Lease Crutcher Lewis, and the DBIA regional chair for student engagement. Sara Howell is a principal at ZGF, serving as project manager for WSU Schweitzer Engineering Hall.
Note: a version of this article originally appeared in the Seattle DJC.