PUB Love
Yet another award for Eastern鈥檚 most celebrated building.
When the renovated聽Pence Union Building celebrated its grand reopening in 2019, pretty much everyone in attendance agreed Eastern鈥檚 stunning new space was a winner. It didn鈥檛 take long for the architectural world to agree.
Over the past three years, the PUB has claimed no less than five state and national awards for design and usage. The latest came earlier this year, when the Society for College and University Planning, or SCUP, awarded the building its top award in the category of Excellence in Architecture for Building Additions, Renovation or Adaptive Reuse. Eastern and other 2022 award winners are featured on the SCUP website and this past summer鈥檚 issue of Learning By Design magazine.
鈥淭he redesign creates an easy-to-navigate, open-concept layout that is infused with natural light,鈥� the聽Learning By Design聽citation says. 鈥淭he renovated building maintains the traditional campus aesthetic of red brick but introduces modern elements of metal, glass and wood that connect the structure from the inside and out.鈥�
Perkins+Will, a Chicago-based firm with offices in Seattle, created the design that rethought and repurposed the original 1960s 鈥渂rutalist鈥� building into a modern-day hub for university activities.
Built by Spokane construction firm Leone & Keeble, the 126,000-square-foot renovated building (featured on the cover of Eastern magazine鈥檚 Spring/Summer 2019 issue) includes a welcoming, light-infused atrium and trendy spaces for dining, shopping and learning.
