Two Spokane firms, NAC|Architecture and Graham Construction & Management Inc., have won a $25 million design-build contract to erect a 300-bed residence hall on the north side of Washington State University's campus in Pullman.

The planned structure, to be called Northside Residence Hall, will be five stories tall and will have 100,000 square feet of floor space, says Bob Askins, a project manager at Graham Construction. Askins says the team won the contract after competing against two West Side bidders.

WSU estimates the total project cost at $32.6 million. The university's project schedule calls for construction to begin by early May and to be completed by July 1, 2013.

The site for the project is a parking area north of Colorado Avenue, across from Bohler Gym and south of the Regents Hall complex.

Askins says that the Spokane team put together a design in a C-shape pattern that complements the hillside and takes up less parking lot space.

"Our design has a courtyard, so the building is wrapped around the courtyard and is kind of C-shape and built back into the hillside," Askins says. "We used a lot less parking than the other two designs, and we saved the project about $375,000 with less parking."

Also, WSU project manager Louise Sweeney says, a two-story recreational lounge and living room for common space is designed as glass-enclosed with a balcony, and it faces Colorado.

Askins says the team designed the first floor of the residence hall to be constructed with reinforced concrete and above that, the upper four floors will be built with wood framing. The dorm rooms will be above the ground floor, with a mix of one- and two-bed units, as well as suites with two and four bedrooms. Each residential floor will include kitchen and laundry lounge areas.

Additionally, each residential floor will have a scattering of study lounges. For the exterior, the residence hall is designed to have red brick and some grey metal panels, Askins says.

Sweeney says funding for construction of the new residence hall has been secured through housing-and-dining revenue bonds, which also financed the $22.6 million renovation and expansion of Duncan-Dunn and Community halls a few blocks west and across Colorado Street from the Northside site. Those projects are scheduled to be completed after the 2011-2012 school year.