University of Washington, Tacoma
44,000 sf
Completed in 2011

The Joy Building is a three-story historic warehouse building originally constructed in 1892. Located at the north entry of the University, the Joy Building will serve as a welcoming beacon and an entrance to a major pedestrian thoroughfare running along Commerce Street - a connective open space through the campus. The addition of sixteen classrooms, seminar rooms, and two large lecture halls address the projected growth needs of UW Tacoma, as well as a new office suite for Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences department. The layout of the building situates classrooms on the east side of the building facing Pacific Avenue - with views out to the active streetscape and Tacoma's historic railroad station. Informal gathering and studying spaces are placed on the west side of the building, facing the pedestrian throughway and a planned plaza. Along Pacific Avenue, restaurant and retail space will transform the historic warehouse into a vibrant downtown storefront and enforce the strong ties the University has created with the Tacoma community.

Sustainable Design Highlights:

The design of the restored LEED Platinum Joy Building incorporates a great number of sustainable strategies. In addition to reusing an existing building and recycling most of the interior materials, the building employs energy efficient and operable windows, high efficiency condensing boilers, efficient lighting design, low-flow hot water fixtures, variable refrigerant flow fan coils and LED exit signs.