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Overview

Haggett Hall was built during a period of great expansion of the University of Washington, when state funding was far more ample that it would become a half century later. A complex of two towers placed on either side of a central lobby/administrative section, Haggett Hall was stoutly built of reinforced concrete. Dormitory rooms, each a double occupancy, had hexagonal shapes, with walls framing views of mountains and Lake Washington. The noted Pacific Northwest Regional Modernist, Paul Hayden Kirk, designed the facility.

Building History

Designed by the noted Seattle architectural firm of Kirk, Wallace and McKinley, Haggett Hall, a dormitory, was sited on the northeast periphery of the University of Washington, Seattle (UW), Campus, on a bluff overlooking Lake Washington. It was placed between two other dormitory complexes, McCarty Hall (1962) to the north and the high-rise McMahon Hall (1963) on the south. McMahon, also a high-rise, was planned in tandem with Haggett, by Kirk, Wallace and McKinley. Haggett Hall was named for Arthur S. Haggett (d. 1917), a former Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, and his wife, Ruby Winnifred Sunderlin Haggett (d. 10/29/1943), an 1898 graduate of the University of Michigan (with a Master's degree in English), who worked as an Associate Professor in the English Department (c. 1920) and the UW Dean of Women (1923-1931). (See "News from the Classes: Ruby Winnifred Sunderlin Haggett," Michigan Alumnus, vol. 50, p. 173)

Building Notes

Haggett Hall originally contained two towers set on either side of a glazed lobby/lounge pavilion, with men originally occupying the south tower and women the north. The plans of each tower floor consisted of two corridors set on either side of a central utility core. The core contained three stairways, housekeeping closets, bathrooms and one elevator. Each tower had four rows of six dorm rooms located on either side of a central circulation core, where a main stairway and elevator were positioned. Designed for double occupancy, all rooms were located on the exterior east and west walls for light and views, and had highly unconventional hexagonal floor plans. The architects felt that by locating beds and desks against the hexagonal walls, a large amount of free space would be opened in the center of each room. Two angled windows would direct views north and south, providing each room on the east a tall, thin view of Lake Washington and Mount Rainier. Each double also contained a triangular closet, with two walls free for each person's storage. Every two floors shared a lounge open to the floor above, to provide students an opportunity to see others on other floors and improve interactivity. (Lounges on the seventh and eighth floors were only one story high.)

The central lobby had a front registration desk, used in the early days to screen visitors to the each tower and limit contact between the sexes. In later years, the lobby contained a grand piano, games equipment, fireplace and patio. The towers became unisex, with one bathroom for each gender on every floor. In 2014, the lobby level of the North Tower, contained Rick's Cafe, a student-run ice cream shop. A student study room was included in the South Tower (Room PS005).

Demolition

In 10/2014, the UW announced plans to raze Haggett and McCarty Halls and rebuild them, much as had been done with dormitories on the west side of the campus, most notablythe demolition and reconstruction of Lander Hall #2 (1957) and Terry Hall #1 (1953). Haggett and McCarty were, in 2014, two of the cheapest dormitories at UW, charging approximately $640 per month; at a time of steep tuition increases, students resisted paying more for a UW education, most having to borrow significant amounts to make it through undergraduate school. The Tree Dorms--Alder, Poplar, Elm and Cedar Halls--built rapidly just after the 2008 Recession on the west side of campus, cost student tenants about 43% more than this, around $960 per month. The UW indicated that it aimed to rebuild Haggett and McCarty over a period of five years, at a cost of about $376 million. These two dorms remained two of the most popular on campus, located close to classroom buildings and being significantly cheaper. In 2014, the Seattle Times reported that the dorms operated at 114% above the original capacity figures, in excess of 796 students. (See Katherine Long, Seattle Times.com, "UW plan to raze old dorms, raise rents in new ones worries students,"Accessed 10/13/2014.)

The Capital Programs Office at the UW has indicated that it would be too expensive to remodel and upgrade the existing facility for contemporary use.

PCAD id: 12549