Washington State University Schweitzer Engineering Hall

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.