SRG Partnership has designed Washington State University’s Everett University Center located in Everett, Washington.

The Washington State University – Everett University Center is the first building of a new branch campus, dramatically expanding access to higher education in the North Puget Sound region with concentrations in science, technology, engineering, and math. The building references the character of WSU’s home campus in Pullman, WA, while at the same time, establishes its own unique identity and sets a precedent for future university development.

Prioritizing the long-range vision of the campus, the building’s massing is oriented toward the south, and begins to define the edges of a central ‘quadrangle.’ The broad south-facing façade provides architectural order and material character that can be referenced and reinterpreted by future buildings.

The Innovation Forum is the heart of the building – a four-story atrium linking major entry points and providing access to the full range of activities within. This interior street is fronted by key student support elements with multiple “storefronts” for student services, a tiered lecture hall, a media-rich classroom, and the Capstone Studio, an upper division lab providing students and industry partners a place for invention and innovation. The Forum serves as a pre-function space and a gathering place for university and community events.

The central figure in the Innovation Forum is the cantilevered wood stair. Created with regional materials by regional craftspersons, the wood stair is both a reference to the storied history of the Pacific Northwest timber industry, and statement of modern engineering, combining renewable resources, creative ambition, and advanced manufacturing technologies.

A typical floor on the east side of the Forum includes classrooms, engineering labs, and student seminar rooms. Using a dimension module that optimizes lab planning, the instructional spaces are designed with flexibility and adaptability in mind. To the west of the Forum, faculty offices and conference rooms surround a central triangular atrium that is full of light and provides a place for faculty interaction.

The University Center building sets a high bar for energy performance, and will serve as a baseline for future campus development. The thermal envelope far exceeds the state energy code standards, and a low-energy VRF system conditions the classroom and faculty wings. The central Innovation Forum is naturally cooled and ventilated with mechanically operable windows and louvers. During winter months, heat energy is harvested from the building’s data center and reused in the Forum’s hydronic radiant floor. A large array of photovoltaic panels at the roof is dramatically exposed as the building’s cornice, cantilevering beyond the south façade. Rain water is captured in a below-grade cistern and repurposed for toilet flushing and irrigation.

The WSU Everett University Center will serve as a new home for a coalition of learners, educators, and industry partners. Expressing WSU’s core values, it creates a strong and distinct identity and envisions future growth toward a fully developed campus.

Architect: SRG Partnership
Contractor: Hoffman Construction Company
MEP Engineer: McKinstry
Civil & Structural Engineer: KPFF
Photography: Benjamin Benschneider