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Overview

This five-floor building served the Foster School of Business at the University of Washington. Its emphasis was on enhancing collaboration. This goal has been achieved through various means, including the use of a daylit atrium, transparent surfaces to divide spaces and the inclusion of a large, two-floor cafe conjoined with various student lounge areas. The Dean of the Business school stated in 2010: "PACCAR Hall is a testament to the on-going growth underway at the Foster School. We designed a building that was focused on collaboration and the architects did a great job delivering on that expectation," said Jim Jiambalvo, dean of the Foster School. "The common spaces allow faculty, students, and business executives to interact with each other on a regular basis." (See "University of Washington Foster School of Business Dedicates PACCAR Hall," PR Newswire, 10/15/2010.) The building succeeds well as a place inviting a variety of social interaction, but it suffered from unfortunate siting, shoehorned too close to the historic Denny Hall in Denny Yard.

Building History

In mid-January 2008, the University of Washington announced the gift of $18 million made by the Piggott Family in honor of the company it heads, Paccar, for a building for the Foster School of Business. Of this $18 million gift, $16 million was to be spent on construction and $2 million on faculty salaries. The 132,000-square-foot Paccar Hall cost approximately $100 million, almost all of it raised through private donors. Construction commenced on 09/26/2008, and it opened for classes on 09/29/2010. Students flooded to Paccar during the Fall Quarter of 2010, making the building's Orin's Place Cafe and an adjacent lounge two of the campus's most popular study spaces. Orin's Place Cafe was named for Orin Smith, former President and CEO of Starbucks, who had close ties to the Foster Business School and served on the university's board of directors. The entire UW School of Business was renamed in 2007 for the Foster Family due to their $50 million gift.

Of this cafe and the surrounding public space, architectural writer Sheri Olson said: "The two-story, glass-enclosed café has views of a specimen Hickory tree and the oldest building on campus, Denny Hall. The space's curtain-wall system has a narrower profile than steel and, along with a fine-scaled porch and lightweight overhead sunscreens, enhances the sense of transparency between indoors and out. The exterior material palette continues inside with exposed steel, masonry walls. and fir ceilings overhead. The slatted wood ceilings and walls conceal sound-dampening acoustical material. The roof of the café supports a generous outdoor deck protected by the dynamic projection of the atrium's roof into the landscape. With treetop views, it is a popular spot even in the rain. Near the café, a linear gas fireplace with a sleek glass screen is the focal point of another gathering place for students providing psychological, if not physical, warmth. To heat the school's large volumes, a displacement ventilation system delivers warm air at a lower velocity and higher temperature through the floor near occupants. It's one of the buildings many sustainable features to achieve LEED® Gold, including evaporative cooling in the main public areas, operable windows in offices, and sunshades to reduce glare and heat gain." (See Sheri Olson, Contract, "PACCAR Hall University of Washington," vol. 53, no. 2, 03/2012, p. 41-47.)

Robert Dillon served as PACCAR Hall's construction manager for the UW's Capital Projects Office. He worked closely with the general contractor, Sellen Construction on its completion. According to Dillon, "...The president of Sellen Construction is a UW Business School graduate. 'It’s close to his heart, what we are doing,' he said." (See Peter Kelley, UW News, "PACCAR Hall construction on time, on schedule despite winter weather," published 03/05/2009, accessed 10/19/2017.) Other members of the construction team included KPFF, civil engineer; Sparling, electrical engineer; Notkin, mechanical engineer; MKA, structural engineer; Davis Langdon, cost supervisor; and the Swift Company, landscape architect.In 09/2010, construction began on a neighboring building replacing Ballmer Hall. This second phase of development for the University of Washington Business School was set to cost $46 million.

Building Notes

Containing classrooms of many sizes, the building contained 14 U-shaped classrooms and a state-of-the-art auditorium that could seat 250. Project architects LMN designed Paccar Hall to facilitate group study projects; 28 "breakout rooms" were designed to provide floor-to-ceiling white boards that could be written and projected upon. Mark Reddington served as LMN's Design Partner in charge of Paccar Hall. The building won a 2013 American Institute of Architects (AIA) Honor Award for Interior Architecture for its architects, LMN. This was one of three national AIA awards won by LMN. Others included a Green Good Design Award from the Chicago Athenaeum (2014), an AIA National Honor Award for Interior Architecture (2013), an AIA, Seattle Northwest and Pacific Region Merit Award (2011), an AIA Seattle Chapter Merit Award (2011), an AIA Washington Council Civic Honor Award (2011), and an AIA/CAE Educational Facility Design Citation Award (2011).

The building contained a great deal of new and impressive technology when built. According to the UW public relations news release of 10/15/2010: "The building is equipped with a wide range of technology enhancements including an 802.11n-based wireless network and distance conferencing capabilities. Additionally, each classroom is equipped with Web-linked digital monitors, recording both audio and video of the professor, and automatically synching that stream with video of the professor's slides. Students can access content online at any time, and faculty receive metrics about students' use of the material-insights faculty can use to tailor the curriculum and teaching style." (See "University of Washington Foster School of Business Dedicates PACCAR Hall," PR Newswire, 10/15/2010.)

The architects achieved LEED New Construction Gold certification at PACCAR Hall.

PCAD id: 11028