Washington State University says it plans to build a new $32.6 million, 300-bed residence hall on the north side of its main campus in Pullman.

The university has called for qualifications from prospective design-build firms for the project and expects to request bids from a short list of the respondents later this month, says Louise Sweeney, a WSU project manager.

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

WSU's project schedule calls for construction to begin in about a year and to be completed by July 1, 2013.

The residence hall will have a mix of one- and two-bed units, as well as suites with two and four bedrooms, Sweeney says. The building also will have common spaces on the first floor, including a living room and recreational lounge.

Dorm rooms will be above the ground floor, and each residential floor will include a kitchen and laundry area. Each residential floor also will have study lounges to accommodate 35 to 40 students.

Sweeney says WSU isn't pre-determining the number of floors in the building, but one likely requirement of the winning design-build team will be that the structure be in character with nearby dormitories, which are five to seven stories tall.

Regardless of its height, the Northside structure will be a large residence hall by WSU's standards, she says.

"To create a community atmosphere, our preferred size would house about 175 residents," Sweeney says. "Larger halls build more challenges."

She says the final design might involve a structure with two separate wings to promote multiple communities within the complex.

At some point, the university will have to address replacement parking for the lot that will be displaced by the Northside project, Sweeney says. "We haven't developed a long-range plan for satellite parking yet," she says.

Sweeney says funding for constructing the new residence hall has been secured through housing-and-dining revenue bonds, which also are financing 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. Construction of those projects was scheduled to start this month and be completed after the 2011-2012 school year.

Despite the current and planned projects, the university's residence-hall system isn't in a growth mode, Sweeney says.

"Once we build a new facility, we can take another one off line to renovate or replace," she says. "In the next 15 to 20 years, residence halls will not be growing in population, but will be in refurbishment mode."

WSU's website says the university is operating 18 residence halls that house 4,500 students.