February 4, 2014

WSU to start $40M dorm soon

Images courtesy of WSU [enlarge]

The board of regents at Washington State University approved the schematic design for a 270-bed residence hall on Colorado Street, just east of the women's soccer field on the north end of the Pullman campus.

The $40 million second phase of Northside Residence Hall will be developed on a parking lot down the street from the 300-bed first phase.

Phase two will have single bedrooms, double bedrooms, single bedrooms with bathrooms, double bedrooms with bathrooms, two-bedroom semi-suites and four-bedroom semi-suites. The top level will have apartment-style suites for groups of four to six students.

Each floor will have common spaces and the ground floor will have a living room and recreation area. The ground floor will be concrete and the four levels above will be wood-frame.

WSU project manager Louise Sweeney said there will be a market with local produce and a cafe fronting Colorado.

A courtyard with tiered seating for small concerts and other events will be accessible from the ground level. The tiered seating will lead to a roof terrace overlooking the soccer field. Sweeney said the space could also be used for dances or movies.

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Construction is expected to begin this spring and finish in fall 2015. It is being developed under a $29 million design-build contract with BNBuilders as the contractor, and Genus Architecture of Denver and Bernardo|Wills Architects of Spokane as the designers.

The first phase of Northside Residence Hall was completed last year by Graham Construction & Management under a design-build contract, with NAC Architecture as the designer. Construction cost about $25 million.

Sweeney said the school will sell naming rights for both phases with a minimum donation of $5 million.

Phase two is primarily funded by bonds.

Sweeney said the school is also looking at building a dining hall on a parking lot along Colorado between the two phases of Northside. That could be 10 years off, she said. In the meantime, crews are installing landscaping and reducing parking in that space.