Virginia Commonwealth University to Build New $121M STEM Education Facility

RICHMOND, VA – The Virginia state budget recently signed by Gov. Ralph Northam includes funding for Virginia Commonwealth University to construct a $121-million, 168,000-square-foot, six-floor building dedicated to science, technology, engineering, and math education on the Monroe Park Campus.

Virginia Commonwealth University STEM building

The building will house lab, classroom, and office space for the College of Humanities and Sciences and will expand existing lab space, facilitate innovative and flexible teaching methods, provide students with instructional and study spaces, and free up space in other College of Humanities and Sciences buildings to better serve students and faculty.

It will include 34 teaching labs; the Math Exchange, an innovative facility for math instruction; a Science Learning Center; two large-capacity classrooms; computer labs; and large- and small-capacity flexible classrooms. It will feature instructional wet and dry labs and classrooms for teaching chemistry, biology, physics, math, psychology, and kinesiology.

The building will be designed by Ballinger and Quinn Evans Architects and constructed by Hourigan.

Featured

  • ZeroEyes, Academic Innovators Partner to Provide Safety Solutions

    ZeroEyes, which produces a multi-analytics weapons detection and threat intelligence platform, recently announced a partnership with Academic Innovators, according to a news release.

  • Opportunity by Design Framework

    Opportunity by Design

    Educational improvement efforts often focus on curriculum, instruction, assessment, professional development, and intervention systems while treating the physical school building as background. But school design is not a passive backdrop to learning — it is a structural lever for equity.

  • Auburn University Debuts $224M STEM + Agricultural Sciences Complex

    Auburn University in Auburn, Ala., recently opened its new $224-million STEM + Agricultural Sciences Complex, the largest research construction project in the university’s history, according to university news. The facility measures more than 265,000 square feet and brings six departments from the College of Agriculture and College of Sciences and Mathematics together under one roof.

  • Missouri K–12 District Cuts Ribbons on Two New Middle Schools

    Springfield Public Schools in Springfield, Mo., recently celebrated the completion of two new middle school facilities with ribbon-cutting ceremonies, according to a district news release. The district officially opened the new Pipkin Middle School and Reed Academy on Sept. 3, both of which were funded through the $220-million Proposition S bond program approved by voters in 2023.