Major building projects continue to shape campus landscape

30 Aug 2012

Now under construction, the College of Engineering's Signature Engineering Building is expected to open by early 2014. This photograph was taken from Stanger Street, looking southwest, toward the Perry Street parking deck.

Even with the completion of three major construction and renovation projects on the Blacksburg campus this summer, several more will continue during the academic year as Virginia Tech continues to add to and improve its teaching, research, and other campus facilities.

Initially referred to as the Academic and Student Affairs Building, The $42 million, 77,000 square foot Lavery Hall was completed this summer, paving the way for the opening of Turner Place, a new, state-of-the art dining facility with eight separate restaurants. In addition, the building has six new classrooms on the third floor, seating between 50 and 75 students each. The rooms have instructional technology and flexible furnishings to support a variety of courses and class formats. The space also includes a small informal study area and group meeting room..

The renovation of West Ambler Johnston Hall is complete, and now houses approximately 800 students and faculty in the university’s second residential college. Last year, East Ambler Johnston Hall was opened following a complete renovation as well. Virginia Tech invested approximately $75 million to renovate both halls which were originally built in 1969.

The $14.1 million addition to the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine was also completed this summer. This 30,000 square foot facility will provide the college with needed classrooms, teaching labs, and faculty spaces.

Several more construction projects will continue during the fall and spring terms. Those projects include

Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity House at Oak Lane Community: This facility is nearing completion and occupancy is expected later this fall.
Turner Street Project: The $60 million project, located on Turner Street near North Main Street, is being building through an agreement between Virginia Tech and the Virginia Tech Foundation, in association with local developer Bob Pack. It will include an 800-space parking garage and 141,000-gross-square-foot mixed-use office/retail building space. It is scheduled for completion in late 2012 or early 2013.
Chilled Water Plant: This $20-million project, which will supply chilled water for cooling to existing campus buildings, including Virginia Bioinformatics Institute and Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science II, as well as future buildings that are planned for the Life Sciences Precinct, is scheduled to be completed by mid-2013.
Center for the Arts: In recent months, work has progressed on all three project components (Performing Arts Center; Computational Performance Lab; and the Institute for Creativity, Art, and Technology).The structure for the Performing Arts Center is complete, and exterior wall systems and interior mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems are currently being installed. The structure, including exterior walls and roof, of the Collaborative Performance Lab is complete, and interior finish work in the space is currently in progress. Shultz Hall is being renovated to create the Institute for Creativity, Art and Technology. Substantial completion of the entire project is currently scheduled for September 2013.
Human and Agricultural Biosciences Building: This $53.7 million, 92,000-square-foot facility, is under construction in the Duck Pond Road parking lot. It will provide additional research laboratory space and is scheduled for completion in late 2013.
Davidson Hall: Partial demolition of the existing building is complete. Installation of the new building foundations and underground utilities is currently in progress. The current estimated completion date of the $31.1 million, 45,000-square-foot facility is December 2013.
Signature Engineering Building: The structure for this building is complete, and external wall systems are being installed. In addition, interior mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems are also being installed. The $100 million, four-story, 155,000-square-foot building is scheduled to be completed by early 2014.

Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech takes a hands-on, engaging approach to education, preparing scholars to be leaders in their fields and communities. As the commonwealth’s most comprehensive university and its leading research institution, Virginia Tech offers 240 undergraduate and graduate degree programs to more than 31,000 students and manages a research portfolio of $513 million. The university fulfills its land-grant mission of transforming knowledge to practice through technological leadership and by fueling economic growth and job creation locally, regionally, and across Virginia.

Signature Engineering Building

Now under construction, the College of Engineering's Signature Engineering Building is expected to open by early 2014. This photograph was taken from Stanger Street, looking southwest, toward the Perry Street parking deck.