SEATTLE-The University of Washington Foster School of Business has completed Paccar Hall here, a 132,000-sqaure-foot, $95 million expansion. It is the first of two new state-of-the-art buildings that comprise an expanded campus here. Hundreds of alumni, faculty, staff, and students joined with Seattle area business leaders to celebrate the occasion.

The privately funded building is expected to receive LEED Gold certification. LMN Architects of Seattle designed Paccar Hall to embody the Foster School’s educational focus on leadership development, strategic thinking and collaboration.

The new building features variable classroom sizes and designs, including 14 U-shaped tiered classrooms, a 250-seat auditorium, and 28 student breakout rooms. It also includes two floors of faculty offices as well as a soaring atrium with a cafe, and a fireplace with surrounding seating.

Paccar Hall was named in recognition of a major gift from Paccar Inc, a global technology company based in Bellevue, WA. Paccar is among the top five corporate donors to the University.

The building is equipped with a wide range of technology enhancements including an 802.11n-based wireless network and distance conferencing capabilities. Additionally, each classroom is equipped with Web-linked digital monitors, recording both audio and video of the professor, and automatically synching that stream with video of the professor’s slides. Students can access content online at any time, and the faculty receives metrics about students’ use of the material—insights faculty can use to tailor the curriculum and teaching style, according to a prepared statement.

According to Jim Jiambalvo, dean of the Foster School, “Paccar Hall is a testament to the on-going growth underway at the Foster School. We designed a building that was focused on collaboration and the architects did a great job delivering on that expectation.”

He adds that “The common spaces allow faculty, students, and business executives to interact with each other on a regular basis.”

Paccar Hall, opened for classes on September 29. “The partnership between education and business is vitally important to our region,” says Mark Pigott, Paccar chairman and chief executive officer. “Paccar has a 105-year tradition of supporting education.”

Pigott adds that the opening of Paccar Hall at the Foster School of Business “is a major step in the University of Washington’s goal of being the leading public business school in the nation.  The school attracts world class faculty and outstanding students and with Paccar Hall, they have the facility that will develop leaders who will contribute in many fields internationally.”