The University of Washington Tacoma’s Phase 2B Expansion involved the adaptive reuse and complete modernization of 135,000 SF of building area throughout five buildings in Tacoma’s Historical/Union Station District, primarily in the historic Mattress Factory and Cherry Parkes Buildings.

The 57,000 SF Mattress Factory Building houses a variety of spaces including a tiered “case presentation” lecture hall, classroom space, media center, campus administrative offices, meeting rooms, and 18,000 SF of student activity space. The Cherry Parkes building houses the first phase of the Institute of Technology which is comprised of several computer laboratories, repair facilities, conference rooms, and administrative/reception areas.

The Phase 2B Expansion was one of the earliest LEED Silver Certified projects for the University of Washington. Innovation credits were granted for a unique signage system developed by McGranahan Architects in cooperation with the University to educate occupants and visitors about sustainable design features.

McGranahan Architects served as the prime architect and provided oversight and management of the design for three architectural firms, managing the process from predesign through the warranty period as well as detail development and document production for both Cherry Parkes and Mattress Factory.

This project for the University of Washington Tacoma (UWT), in partnership with the local chapter of the YMCA, provides a campus amenity that merges fitness, intellectual pursuit, and community activities. The many shared goals and values of both organizations provided an incredible framework for building community and providing invigorating programs and services.

The UWT and YMCA spaces are intentionally intermixed to provide an integrative and diverse environment. An open-plan arrangement capitalizes on flexibility and views with rooms inserted against the grade transition. This approach opens up three stories of available daylight and views that spill through open areas and back to adjacent rooms.

The Y Student Center façade uses alternating transparent and opaque enclosure systems to provide a visual porosity that is intended to engage both street and building activities and integrate within the surrounding warehouse neighborhood context.

This project was delivered via the Design-Build process, exemplifying the University’s creative methods to improve the built environment, particularly in a challenging fiscal context for higher education.

Harned Hall provides a leading-edge learning environment for academic programs at Saint Martin’s University and was the first new facility on the campus in 15 years. The project is located near the center of campus and to the south of a Michael Graves designed library. It is sited at the intersection of two active and symbolic axes on campus leading to Old Main and the Residence Halls.

Harned Hall’s ground floor includes a social/study commons and small café that has become a social crossroads on campus. Numerous bays and alcoves are blended into the project providing informal study areas within an efficient and flexible instructional setting. The architectural character of the building takes it cues from the Academic Buildings on campus, especially the historic Old Main while using contemporary systems and materials. The Old Main arches provide a strong thematic element in the building, reflecting the University’s Benedictine heritage.

The Cebula Hall Engineering Building contains Environmental, Structures, Thermal Engineering, Materials, and CAD Modeling Labs as well as classrooms, an engineering library, and administrative offices for faculty and the dean of the Hal and Inge Marcus School of Engineering. This academic building achieved LEED Platinum Certification at a significantly low cost of $225 per SF. The compact three-story building absorbed the cost impact of laboratories, vertical circulation, and a rooftop lab.

The building serves as a learning tool expressing engineered building elements and systems that are supported by surrounding informal learning spaces and curriculum. Many of the building’s structural, civil, and mechanical systems are displayed to facilitate dialogue and support the school’s curriculum. The upper floor of the building provides access to a rooftop lab that includes two dual-axis solar panels, allowing students to study the benefits of tracking devices, solar orientation, and the production of solar energy.