The University of Washington Tacoma (UWT) has broken ground on Milgard Hall, a state-of-the-art STEM learning lab. The building will connect students and faculty across the Milgard Business School, the School of Engineering & Technology, and the Global Innovation and Design Lab.
Designed by Architecture Research Office (ARO), the 55,000-sf building will be built with mass timber and incorporates sustainability into almost every facet of the facility’s design and construction. The building is carefully sited to maximize access to daylight and views and is programmed relative to solar energy to reduce HVAC loads wherever possible.
Milgard Hall is located adjacent to the revitalized Prairie Line Trail and surrounded by historic warehouse structures. The design is rooted in Tacoma’s history, including its connection to lumber and trades and the terminus of the Northern Pacific Railroad. Exterior materials relate to the existing brick structures nearby as well as the modern urban context. Glimpses of the mass timber structure can be seen through expanses of glass in select zones. The local brick is contrasted with profiled metal panels. Large windows punctuate the facade, opening up towards the sky.
SEE ALSO: New 678-bed student housing development breaks ground near the University of South Carolina
Classrooms, laboratories, and an outdoor Science Court are situated to be visible from the Prairie Line Trail, actively connecting the students to passersby. An open, airy, common area, dubbed the “Connector,” extends through the building and accommodates a natural path across campus, further activating the building as a student hub at the south side of campus. All departments converge in the Connector, allowing it to be used simultaneously as a collaborative zone and for individual study and work. The Connector also welcomes the surrounding community, providing access to a large, flexible High Impact Practice Space and other flexible classrooms.
The building will be a home for the expanding School of Engineering and Technology (SET) and will house a lab wing providing new engineering spaces on campus. The spaces will include a machine and fabrication shop and concrete combustion labs with exterior access to the street and Science Court. Hydrology and Robotics labs are located on the upper floors of the building. The Global Innovation Design Lab (GIDLab) will include flexible spaces that support a design thinking methodology. Synergies between SET, GIDLab, and the Milgard School of Business will be promoted in the building, intersecting with the broader Tacoma community.
Milgard Hall is slated to be completed in 2023.
Related Stories
| Jul 19, 2013
Reconstruction Sector Construction Firms [2013 Giants 300 Report]
Structure Tone, DPR, Gilbane top Building Design+Construction's 2013 ranking of the largest reconstruction contractor and construction management firms in the U.S.
| Jul 19, 2013
Reconstruction Sector Engineering Firms [2013 Giants 300 Report]
URS, STV, Wiss Janney Elstner top Building Design+Construction's 2013 ranking of the largest reconstruction engineering and engineering/architecture firms in the U.S.
| Jul 19, 2013
Reconstruction Sector Architecture Firms [2013 Giants 300 Report]
Stantec, HOK, HDR top Building Design+Construction's 2013 ranking of the largest reconstruction architecture and architecture/engineering firms in the U.S.
| Jul 19, 2013
Renovation, adaptive reuse stay strong, providing fertile ground for growth [2013 Giants 300 Report]
Increasingly, owners recognize that existing buildings represent a considerable resource in embodied energy, which can often be leveraged for lower front-end costs and a faster turnaround than new construction.
| Jul 2, 2013
LEED v4 gets green light, will launch this fall
The U.S. Green Building Council membership has voted to adopt LEED v4, the next update to the world’s premier green building rating system.
| Jul 1, 2013
Report: Global construction market to reach $15 trillion by 2025
A new report released today forecasts the volume of construction output will grow by more than 70% to $15 trillion worldwide by 2025.
| Jun 28, 2013
Building owners cite BIM/VDC as 'most exciting trend' in facilities management, says Mortenson report
A recent survey of more than 60 building owners and facility management professionals by Mortenson Construction shows that BIM/VDC is top of mind among owner professionals.
| Jun 17, 2013
DOE launches database on energy performance of 60,000 buildings
The Energy Department today launched a new Buildings Performance Database, the largest free, publicly available database of residential and commercial building energy performance information.
| Jun 11, 2013
Building a better box: High-bay lab aims for net-zero [2013 Building Team Award winner]
Building Team cooperation and expertise help Georgia Tech create a LEED Platinum building for energy science.
| Jun 5, 2013
USGBC: Free LEED certification for projects in new markets
In an effort to accelerate sustainable development around the world, the U.S. Green Building Council is offering free LEED certification to the first projects to certify in the 112 countries where LEED has yet to take root.
