Albertson Building
Building Information
Geographic Coordinates: 46.725636, -117.011821
Location: West side of Administration building 875 Campus Drive
Building Overview
Date: 2002-
Standing: Yes
Architect: Design West Architects, Gordon Walker, Architect; Yost Grube Hall Architecture; Swank Enterprises, General Contractor
Architectural Style: Postmodern
Use History: Remodeled and enlarged Administration Annex (1950; Whitehouse, Price, DeNeff, Architects (Spokane); Reinforced concrete and brick facing; 134' x 66', two floors and basement, flat roof; 25,254 square feet; $343,360; Administrative offices; controller, registrar, admissions) to house College of Business and Economics first building to be funded entirely by private gifts; contains full-service deli and campus bookstore
Sources: Facilities Website, Dedication Plaques and Stones Images
History
The J.A. Albertson Building marked the first permanent home for the University of Idaho’s College of Business and Economics, which had previously operated without a dedicated facility. Its completion in 2002 followed a successful $14 million fundraising campaign. It was the first construction project on campus to be fully financed by private donors. Designed by Grube Hall Architecture and Gordon Walker of Design West Architects, the building replaced the Administration Annex (1951), a 25,000-square-foot Modern structure that had occupied the site between the Administration Building’s north and south wings. With roughly half of its 50,000 square feet stemming from that remodel, the Albertson Building emerged as an entirely new resource rather than a continuation of the Annex.1
The project reflected the university’s evolving academic priorities and responded to donor concerns that “student learning experience suffers from lack of space.” It provided state-of-the-art multimedia classrooms, a trading room, team rooms, a 24-seat distance education classroom, and consolidated services to support collaborative learning. Named for J.A. Albertson, founder of the Albertson’s grocery chain, the building symbolized a major act of community investment in business education at the university.2
Design
The structure is a T-form Postmodern building with Neo-Gothic elements. It is clad in red-pressed brick laid in stretcher bonds, visually aligning with the adjacent Collegiate Gothic Administration Building (1909). Gothic brick buttresses, cast concrete accents, and gabled rooflines reinforce this connection. Contemporary elements include expansive multi-pane windows with metal mullions, steel canopies, and minimalist concrete banding. A prominent glass curtain wall and recessed window bays highlight the building’s liminal position between historic and contemporary campus styles.3
Physical Description
The Alberston building is made of steel-reinforced smooth-dressed concrete, and features a high-gable metal roof. The roof has prominent cross gables at the south and east elevations and a third-level metal balustrade. The north elevation, which serves as the primary entrance, features a double-leaf glass-panel door, molded iron signage beam, pediment-like gable window, and straight stairway framed by brick plinths.4
Joseph Albert Albertson
Joseph Albert Albertson (1906-1993) was an American entrepreneur and the founder of the Albertsons grocery store chain, which grew to become one of the largest food and drug retailers in the United States. [5]