College of
Nursing
Washington State
University - Riverpoint Campus
412 E. Spokane
Falls Boulevard
Spokane,
Washington
Completion date:
December 2008
The Washington State University Riverpoint campus is at
a pivotal point in its development. With the opening of the new Nursing
Building, it has turned the corner on its way to becoming a true urban
campus. The current campus master planning activities embrace this
change through the increased density and scale of proposed structures
and through campus organizational ideas rooted in an understanding of
historic urban open space concepts and pedestrian movement.
The building is designed to support the growing needs of
the nursing program at WSU and health sciences education throughout the
region. The relationship-based teaching style of the nursing faculty led
to a building organization that places faculty offices in "cul-de-sacs"
adjacent to student interaction zones. In addition to offices, this
90,000 SF facility includes wet labs, clinical research areas
(phlebotomy, tissue cultures), examination rooms, practice labs,
clinical areas, classrooms, and student activity areas.
Perhaps the most significant challenge for the building
was its site. The proposed location placed it at the gateway to the
campus and within an existing railroad trench that had served as a
barrier between the campus and the urban community. The solution
conceives the building as a bridge (both literally and metaphorically)
between the campus and community, while creating a vital new outdoor
campus space within the old trench.
The building anchors itself to the street side of the
trench, fronting the street with transparency, entry and sheltering
arcade. The mass of the building is "gapped" into two sections, allowing
visual access into, and physical passage through the building to the
campus beyond. The spaces within this gap support areas for social
interaction, group work, and campus/community activities.
The campus face of the building contrasts with the
public face as a sculptural object placed within the trench. A bridge
and exterior stair complete the composition while forming new
connections into and across the trench.
The trench itself has been transformed into a new active
campus space complete with outdoor learning environments incorporating
areas of repose, a small amphitheater, and a "Healing Garden" of native
medicinal plants. The space has hard surfaced areas for tables and
chairs as well as sloping lawns and planting areas. A variety of
plantings and paving patterns enforces the human quality of the space
while a small cafe in the lower level of the nursing building helps
enliven the space and provides a pleasant atmosphere overlooking the
courtyard. The beautifully aged trench walls to the north and south have
been preserved as cultural and historical artifacts, providing both a
sense of enclosure and timelessness to the space as well as recalling
ties to the region's past.
2009
Mayor's Urban Design Award Winner
