Announcements March 8, 2023

University of Washington, Life Sciences Building Wins AIA National Award

The annual program celebrates the pinnacle of contemporary architecture, recognizing the project for its collaborative research-based approach to climate action and healthy design.

Congratulations to our Seattle-based design team and the University of Washington for earning one of the most significant architecture awards in the U.S.—a 2023 AIA National Award. The award recognizes UW’s Life Sciences Building for its collaborative research-based approach to climate action and healthy design. The annual program celebrates the pinnacle of contemporary architecture, highlighting the many ways buildings and spaces can improve lives with a focus on place, purpose, history, and environmental sustainability.

“UW Life Sciences Building is the culmination of over two decades of planning and design of teaching and research facilities on the UW Campus and lessons learned brought forward in a beautiful and collaborative next generation environment for STEM students and faculty,” says managing principal Anthony Gianopoulos.

The building is a flexible, collaborative, and highly sustainable building with open stair landings and cozy breakout spaces to foster impromptu encounters between students, faculty, and researchers.

A Catalyst for Change

With the largest STEM program in the state, the University of Washington tapped us to create a revolutionary new facility, one that would expand its capabilities and embody the school’s core values of scientific discovery, collaboration, active learning, and environmental sustainability.

The result is a flexible, collaborative, and highly sustainable building with open stair landings and cozy breakout spaces to foster impromptu encounters between students, faculty, and researchers. Plus, the first-of-its-kind vertical glass solar fins, developed in collaboration with students from UW Solar, generate enough electricity to light 12,400 square feet of offices year-round. And just steps away from Seattle’s largest pedestrian trail is a vibrant greenhouse that invites the community to engage with and experience the science happening within.

“The UW Life Sciences Building raised the bar and set the stage for the next generation of campus buildings as the first UW Campus building to meet the 2030 Challenge for energy reduction,” says Gianopoulos.

The design team partnered with students from UW Solar to create a first-of-its-kind installation of “building integrated photovoltaics” (BIPVs).

These custom-made panels on the façade reduce unwanted solar heat gain while also producing enough electricity to light all four floors of offices.

Just steps away from Seattle’s largest pedestrian trail is a vibrant greenhouse that invites the community to engage with and experience the science happening within.

"It was an extraordinary journey to work with an exceptional team of architects, clients, and contractors toward achieving a shared vision. Being onsite every day gave me invaluable insight into the construction world and has since shaped the way I approach projects. This experience is one that I'll never forget."

Shanni Hanein, technical coordinator

This next-level science facility creates an “eco-tone”—the region of transition between two biological communities—in both program and design where the technology behind the science intersects with the study of the natural world. The southern exterior of this building is a true convergence of technology and nature. Its metallic, glassy façade and energy-producing solar fins represent advances in technology juxtaposed against the Deodar Cedar tree canopy that envelops the woodland campus path.

We recognized the importance of a collaborative and interdisciplinary design process to reach our ambitious goals for building quality and sustainability. UW Solar—a student group at the university—spearheaded the solar and water designs, writing grants for funding and presenting findings to the client. Now, these same students are leading building tours to pass on their knowledge to future designers, ensuring that their innovative solutions to climate change live on long after they graduate.

“With its prominence on the University of Washington campus, this project has become a shining example of our firm’s design ethos Living Design not only for practicing architects but also the students who experience it daily—inspiring our next generation of leaders in the built and natural environment,” says associate principal and project architect Devin Kleiner.

The University of Washington, Life Sciences Building is also a recipient of several other design awards, including AIA COTE® Top Ten Awards, AIA Seattle, 2021; Metropolis Planet Positive Awards, 2021; BLT Built Global Design Awards – Distinction in Architectural Design (Education Category), 2022; World Architecture News WAN Awards, Bronze Award, 2021; SCUP/AIA-CAE Excellence in Architecture, Honorable Mention, 2020; AIA Seattle, Merit Award, 2019; AIA Northwest and Pacific Region, Honor Award, 2019; ENR Northwest, Best Projects in Higher Education/Research, 2019; AIA Washington Council, Merit Award, 2019; AIA Northwest and Pacific Region, Honor Award, 2019; Seattle DJC, Building of the Year, 2018

University of Washington, Life Sciences Building Wins AIA National Award

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