• Photo ©Tim Griffith

Founder's Hall, Foster School of Business, University of Washington

Seattle, WA

Project Categories

Seattle
Design-Build
Higher education

Business Type

New construction of classroom building with event space and large, central commons

Size

85,500 square feet

As a replacement for an older 1960s building, the new Founder’s Hall is designed to fit into the University of Washington's Campus Sustainability Action Plan by achieving a 79% reduction in energy consumption over the first 60 years of its life.

Founders Hall, Foster School of Business from LMN Architects on Vimeo.

Architect

LMN Architects

Owner

University of Washington

Clients

McKinstry - Mechanical, VECA Electric & Technologies - Electrical, LMN Architects - Sustainability

Services

Mechanical engineering

Electrical engineering

Building performance analysis

Sustainability

Certifications

  • LEED Gold

Progress Report

  • 32% energy savings beyond code, exceeding UW’s Green Building Standard to perform 15% better than code
  • Energy Use Intensity (EUI) of 27 compared to an EUI of 40 for a typical code school building
  • Fossil-fuel free building
  • The new building’s operating emissions may be considered carbon neutral by choosing to avoid fossil fuels and connect to one of the cleanest electric grids in the nation, Seattle City Light
  • Cross-laminated timber decking reduces the building’s embodied carbon by 58%
  • 85% reduction in operational carbon

Special features

  • Operable windows, ceiling fans, and strategic glazing placement provides low energy cooling solutions for key spaces in the building
  • Highly insulated envelope greatly reduces mechanical heating needs earning significant energy savings

Media Coverage

BD+C: University of Washington opens mass timber business school building

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Dezeen: LMN Architects creates mass-timber business school for University of Washington

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DJC Seattle: UW’s first mass timber hall

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DJC Seattle: Founder’s Hall – A model for the next century of campus building

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DJC Seattle: Delivering campus energy and carbon savings 14 years ahead of schedule at UW Seattle

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Yahoo! Finance: LMN Architects Celebrates the Completion of the Michael G. Foster School of Business Founders Hall at the University of Washington

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The Architect's Newspaper: LMN Architects completes University of Washington’s first mass timber building

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