Engineering Equity: The Design Process & Outcomes of the University of Washington's Interdisciplinary Engineering Building
Learn how the design team behind the Interdisciplinary Engineering Building at the University of Washington embedded diversity, equity, and inclusion into architectural decision-making—sharing research-driven strategies, real-world challenges, and lessons from delivery with KieranTimberlake.
About the live course
One of Seattle's newest buildings, the University of Washington’s Interdisciplinary Engineering Building (IEB), first opened for the fall 2025 academic semester and was designed with a particular emphasis on diversity, equity, and inclusion. In this session, members of the design team at KieranTimberlake will discuss how they approached the project through the lens of equity in design, the depth and rigor of research involved, and how they applied DEI principles to specific architectural decisions. The panel will also address challenges and solutions from the first phase of delivery, including compromises and adjustments that were made in response to client feedback.
- Understand how a stakeholder engagement process built on themes of equity and inclusion was structured and led to a framework for decision making on the UW IEB.
- Understand how the outcomes of the stakeholder engagement process guided design decisions on program, placement, and character of interior spaces on the UW IEB.
- Understand the character of the interior and exterior spaces in the final built condition.
- Understand the anticipated Post Occupancy Evaluation plan for UW IEB and how it aims to measure the results of goals established at the project outset.
Presented in partnership with the Interior Architecture Knowledge Community (IAKC).
Explore the evolution of collaborative design practice through UK and international case studies, and learn how new tools like the Engagement Overlay to the RIBA Plan of Work are advancing more
