Engineering

Florida Polytechnic University broke ground in April of 2024 on the Gary C. Wendt Engineering Building in Lakeland. Designed by DLR Group, the $15 million facility is envisioned as a vibrant social hub where innovation converges with education. The 40,000-sf facility will offer four multidisciplinary labs where students can engage in hands-on learning, making, and research. Featuring raw materials and exposed structural elements, the two-story development will include an atrium, a conference room, collaboration spaces, and an office suite.

Virginia Commonwealth University broke ground in April of 2024 on the $253 million CoStar Center for Arts and Innovation in Richmond. Designed by William Rawn Associates and Glavé & Holmes Architecture, the 213,000-sf facility will feature flexible classrooms, interdisciplinary performance venues, maker spaces, and an expansive atrium with an interactive staircase.

Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory will break ground in summer of 2024 on a 68,000-sf research facility at the Forrestal campus in Plainsboro. Designed by SmithGroup, the Princeton Plasma Innovation Center will offer laboratories of various sizes where PPPL investigators will engage in shared discovery with academic and industry partners. Open meeting venues with whiteboards will encourage the spontaneous exchange of ideas, and collaboration spaces equipped with advanced technologies will support interaction with remote participants.

The University of Pennsylvania is building the $173.5 million Vagelos Laboratory for Energy Science & Technology in Philadelphia. Designed by Behnisch Architekten, the seven-story, 113,764-sf facility will enable investigators from the School of Arts and Sciences and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences to discover new solutions for energy generation, storage, and management.

Siemens Mobility is planning to construct a £100 million innovation center for rail infrastructure in Chippenham. Featuring world-class R&D labs for the discovery of novel travel solutions, the digitally enabled complex will produce the next generation of signaling and control systems for the United Kingdom. Open office areas designed to support hybrid working will be accompanied by sophisticated meeting rooms and collaboration spaces.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison will begin construction in May of 2026 on a $420 million facility for the College of Engineering. Standing seven stories above grade with one basement level, the 395,000-gsf structure will provide 211,000 asf of collaborative teaching and research space. Multidisciplinary labs will open onto flexible meeting and write-up areas, accompanied by dedicated venues for engaging with industry partners. The modular and adaptable building will promote experiential education with active learning classrooms, studios, workshops, and maker spaces.

Miami University opened the $58 million Richard M. McVey Data Science Building in March of 2024 in Oxford, Ohio. Designed by BHDP Architecture and CannonDesign, the 92,000-sf facility provides collaborative environments for learning, making, and discovery.

The new Science and Engineering Building (SEB), completed in 2020 on the campus of the University of Texas at San Antonio, is helping the engineering, biology, and chemistry departments overcome the challenges of inadequate infrastructure, crowded instructional rooms, poor access between labs across multiple buildings, insufficient lab support areas, and lack of space to accommodate capstone projects.

The University of Louisville is constructing a $90 million facility to provide the J.B. Speed School of Engineering with dynamic environments for hands-on learning and discovery. Designed by Luckett & Farley and SmithGroup, the 114,000-sf structure will accommodate laboratories, classrooms, a maker space, design studios, and event venues. The four-story development will drive the growth of Kentucky’s technology-enabled economy by offering collaboration venues for shared exploration with industry partners.

Agratas, a subsidiary of Tata Group, will break ground in spring of 2024 on a £4 billion battery factory in the United Kingdom. Located on the Gravity Smart Campus in Bridgwater, the three-building complex will leverage highly efficient processes and technologies to produce advanced battery cells for electric vehicles. The sustainable project involves the adaptive reuse of an existing brownfield site and the creation of sophisticated renewable energy systems.

San Diego State University broke ground in February of 2024 on the $95 million Sciences and Engineering Laboratories in Brawley, Calif. Located on the Imperial Valley campus, the 37,000-sf structure will provide flexible classrooms, teaching labs, and training venues. The sustainably designed building will also include the STEM Innovation Hub where faculty and students can engage in collaborative research. A covered outdoor courtyard will act as a year-round destination for informal interaction and study.

James Cook University opened the AUD$100 million Engineering and Innovation Place in February of 2024 on the Douglas campus in Townsville. Designed by KIRK Studio in association with i4 Architecture and Charles Wright Architects, the 101,180-sf building accommodates social learning environments, 23 laboratories, a maker space, conference rooms, and a multimodal studio. The modular and flexible structure also includes a soaring atrium and collaboration venues for shared development with industry partners.

Colorado School of Mines opened the $19.4 million Labriola Innovation Hub in February of 2024 in Golden, Colo. Designed by OZ Architecture, the 37,260-sf building features collaborative project studios and maker spaces where faculty, students, alumni, and industry partners can discover new solutions for critical societal problems. This campus-wide resource for invention supports both physical and computational approaches to ideation, prototyping, and testing.

The University of Nevada, Las Vegas opened the $73 million Advanced Engineering Building in February of 2024. Designed by SmithGroup in association with PGAL, the 52,000-sf facility will enable the Howard R. Hughes College of Engineering to increase total enrollment from 3,000 to 5,000 students to address a national need for skilled professionals. On the ground floor, a flexible classroom is strategically sited next to a maker space to foster the application of academic knowledge to hands-on exploration.

The University of Texas at El Paso is constructing the $80 million Advanced Manufacturing and Aerospace Center to provide the College of Engineering with leading-edge environments for research, teaching, and innovation. The four-story, 93,000-gsf facility will feature hands-on learning venues where students can gain the crucial skills needed by local employers such as NASA and Blue Origin. Offering research labs, fabrication suites, high bay spaces, and administrative offices, the highly flexible structure will initially house the Aerospace Center and the W.M.