Work |
Dining Hall at the University of Idaho, McCall Field Campus
McCall, ID
Creating Idaho’s First Living Building — and a New Standard for Regenerative Education.
The University of Idaho selected McLennan Design to lead the creation of a site-sensitive campus master plan and to design the state’s first Living Building—a regenerative, all-electric dining hall nestled within the forested edge of Ponderosa State Park. The McCall Field Campus, home to the McCall Outdoor Science School (MOSS), has served generations of K–12 and university students since 1939. As demand for outdoor and environmental education has grown, so too has the need for spaces that reflect the values it teaches: stewardship, ecological resilience, and learning through place.
McLennan Design’s work reimagines the campus as a year-round hub for environmental education—one where buildings don’t just support curriculum, they become it. The new dining hall, designed to meet the Living Building Challenge, replaces its 1930s predecessor with a functional and symbolic heart for a new era of science, community, and connection. Rooted in regenerative principles, the building’s systems, materials, and siting show how architecture can serve people and planet without compromise. From preserving every Ponderosa Pine to designing a building that teaches through its own performance, the project offers a blueprint for higher education: architecture that educates as much as it shelters.
University of Idaho
Lead Architect
Living Building Challenge
McCall, ID
14 acres
2026
Idaho Batholith, Level III, Region 16
Dining Facility and Multi-Use Event Hall
Designing for Place, Performance on a Budget, Climate Resilience in Snow Country, Buildings That Teach
A Living Heart for McCall
The new Dining Hall at the University of Idaho’s McCall Field Campus replaces an undersized 1930s-era log cabin with a regenerative, year-round gathering place designed to meet the evolving needs of a nearly century-old outdoor learning campus. As Idaho’s first Living Building, it serves as a functional and symbolic heart for the campus—uniting dining, community, and environmental education in a high-performance structure that honors its forest setting, preserves every Ponderosa Pine, and supports hands-on science and stewardship programs for learners of all ages.
The design is a simple shed form, placed to create a new edge to campus with stunning views up and down McCall Lake. The building is delicately placed to avoid ancient ponderosa pines, provide a flow of service for young kids at the camp, and an elevated dining experience. Phase 2 will add a classroom building.
“It’s a pleasure working with McLennan Design! They simultaneously helped stretch our understanding of the Living Building Challenge, while making it achievable for our campus, and more importantly for our students who will for generations know what it means to build sustainably.”
DENNIS BECKER, Ph.D., ’02
Dean | Professor of Natural Resources
University of Idaho
A Regenerative Framework and Campus Plan Rooted in Place
Before designing Idaho’s first Living Building, McLennan Design led a site-sensitive masterplan for the University of Idaho’s McCall Field Campus. Set within Ponderosa State Park, the plan balances future growth with ecological restoration, safety, and enhanced campus experience.
Through close collaboration with university and MOSS faculty, we created a long-range vision that preserves every mature tree, strengthens campus identity, and supports year-round use.
This framework guided the strategic siting of the new dining hall and future academic buildings, ensuring each intervention is rooted in ecology, education, and community.
Buildings That Teach
How can a dining hall become a living lab—supporting environmental literacy, science education, and stewardship for students of all ages?
The Dining Hall is intended to operate and be used as a living laboratory—where exposed systems, on-site water treatment, and visible energy performance turn everyday experiences into hands-on lessons in ecology, stewardship, and sustainable living.
“We’re really excited to be working with McLennan Design! We are looking forward to having buildings that reflect both the growing program needs and the relationship that we want to cultivate with our people and place, and working with the McLennan team has been a great process that has helped us to clarify our vision.”
KARLA EITEL, PhD, MS, MEd, ’07, ’04
Director, McCall Field Campus and Outdoor Science School
Research Professor of Place-based Environmental Education
University of Idaho
Impact
Performance on a Budget
McLennan Design delivered a cost-effective, all-electric Living Building by combining passive design strategies, efficient systems, and locally appropriate materials—proving that high performance is achievable even in remote settings, without relying on big-city infrastructure or big-budget premiums.
Design Learning Environments That Belong to Their Landscape
From outdoor science schools and rural campuses to regenerative academic buildings and master plans, we help institutions create places that deepen learning, strengthen community, and perform for generations. Whether navigating remote sites, ambitious sustainability goals, or evolving campus needs, we design environments where ecology, education, and long-term value work together—not in competition.
