September 2, 2025

WSU taps Hoffman/ZGF team for new $60M science building

Early rendering via WSU website [enlarge]

The new building’s exact dimensions are not yet known, but it will be constructed on the site of 1960s era Heald Hall.

Washington State University has chosen the team of Hoffman Construction and ZGF Architects for the progressive design-build of a new integrated sciences building along the sciences corridor of its Pullman campus.

The university's notice of selection ran in the DJC last week. Eleven firms responded to the university's initial request for qualifications, with three teams invited to respond to the RFP.

The project, at Veteran's Way and Northeast College Avenue, includes demolishing Heald Hall — designed by Decker & Christenson and opened in 1962 — which is currently connected to both Eastlick Hall and Abelson Hall, and developing new connections to those other science corridor mainstays, according to the project's request for qualifications.

The building's exact size and configuration is not yet known, as the university previously said it wants its progressive design-builder to help explore what will best serve the space and surrounding corridor.

The project is part of a larger effort to upgrade WSU science facilities, with renovations to neighboring Eastlick, Abelson and Bustad halls underway by the design-build team of Anderson Construction and Gensler.

Work includes identifying potential ways to improve existing site utilities and streamlining the building's addition. WSU said the initial contract for the integrated sciences building will need to include as much infrastructure and site preparation as the budget and schedule allows.

WSU expects the project to be primarily state funded over two funding cycles. The guaranteed maximum price (GMP) design-build budget for the initial two-year phase of the project is $20 million, according to the RFQ, with an expected increase of $40 million once funds are received from the state for the 2027-2029 biennium, bringing the total design-build GMP to $60 million.

Construction completion is expected in May of 2029.

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• WSU seeks design-build team for new science building  05-29-2025