Engineering Innovation Hall
A building where engineering students cut steel, pour concrete and break things on purpose, delivered under one design-build contract.
- Owner
- Confidential
- Location
- U.S.
- Market
- Higher Education
- Delivery
- Design-build
- Scale
- 126,000 SF
- Completed
- 2023
Maker labs, high-bay test space and project studios that let engineering students build at full scale.
Faculty wanted high-bay test space with a strong floor and an overhead crane, wet and dry labs, and quiet project studios, all under one roof. A strong floor that takes repeated impact loads sits uneasily next to rooms full of sensitive instruments. The program kept growing during design, and the budget did not.
The approach.
- 01
Target value from day one
Every program change was priced within days against a fixed target, so faculty traded features knowingly instead of discovering overruns at bid.
- 02
Loud spaces kept apart
The high bay sits on its own foundation, separated by a structural joint from the labs and studios that need stillness.
- 03
Building systems left visible
Ducts, piping and cable tray were routed in the model to stay exposed and labeled, so the building teaches how buildings work.
- 04
Crane and floor load tested
The bridge crane and strong floor anchors were load tested and certified before the first student project arrived.
The outcome.
“Students will spend four years taking this building apart in their heads. We wanted every pipe and beam to hold up to that.”
Design-build manager, GilbertLanham
Planning something like this?
Share the project, the site and the date that matters. A senior builder will come back to you within one business day.