January 4, 2021

UW moving ahead with new engineering building

Conceptual rendering by McGranahan Architects [enlarge]

The UW is using this conceptual rendering to raise money for the project. The building layout will be student-focused, with project-based learning and research, collaboration and innovation space for over 950 students.

The University of Washington selected Hensel Phelps as the contractor and KieranTimberlake as the architect on the Interdisciplinary Engineering Building for the College of Engineering.

Construction is expected to start in summer 2022 and be complete two years later, said Steve Tatge, executive director of the UW Facilities Project Delivery Group.

The building will be on a tight, sloping site on Stevens Way east of the Husky Union Building and south of the UW Club on the Seattle campus.

The Miller Hull Partnership did a pre-design study that showed the building could be five floors and approximately 75,000 square feet, said Tatge.

He said the estimated design and construction cost is $52.8 million. That does not include items such as sales tax, owner contingency and furniture and equipment.

Funding sources for the design-build project include the state, donors and the UW.

The building is primarily for undergraduate engineering students. The layout will be student-focused, with project-based learning and research, collaboration and innovation space for over 950 students. This will include hands-on learning and flexible teaching spaces. Curriculum will be drawn from 10 academic departments within the college to foster interdisciplinary education.

Four smaller buildings will be demolished to make way for the Interdisciplinary Engineering Building. Tatge said the university estimates it will cost several million dollars to relocate those people, mostly to the UW Tower, and convert a cafeteria seating area in the tower to office space.

According to a UW report, the school's College of Engineering has grown significantly over the past decade, but not enough to meet student and local industry demand. The report said the school should to expand its program to meet these needs, and there is a 10-year plan to develop two new buildings totaling 349,000 square feet and renovate several others to create the space. The IEB is the first of those buildings. The other projects are not currently funded.