Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

Virginia Tech Tops Out New College of Engineering Building

  • By Matt Jones
  • 07/09/26

Key Takeaways

  • Virginia Tech celebrated the topping out of the 285,500-square-foot Mitchell Hall, a five-story engineering facility scheduled for completion in winter 2028 that will become the largest College of Engineering building on campus.
  • The new building will house classrooms, instructional labs, and research spaces for multiple engineering disciplines while preserving an existing facility that contains one of the nation's largest university-owned wind tunnels.
  • Built by Skanska, the project has reached the topping-out milestone after using more than 18,000 cubic yards of concrete, 2,600 tons of reinforcing steel, and approximately 300,000 work hours, continuing the firm's longstanding partnership with Virginia Tech.

 

Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., recently celebrated the topping out of Mitchell Hall, which will soon stand as the largest College of Engineering building on campus, according to a news release. The university partnered with Skanska on the 285,500-square-foot facility, which has an expected completion date of winter 2028.

The five-story building will feature academic classrooms and instruction labs, as well as research lab space for the “aerospace and ocean engineering, chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, computer science, and engineering education programs,” according to the news release. The facility is being built around an existing one that contains one of the largest university-owned wind tunnels in the U.S., preserving the old building within the new layout.

“Every person on this team has brought remarkable skill and dedication to Mitchell Hall, and that commitment shows in what we've built so far,” said Mark Balling, the Skanska Mid-Atlantic region’s executive vice president and general manager. "We’re honored to deliver another facility for Virginia Tech that represents a bold step forward not just for today's students and faculty, but for the many generations that follow.”

Construction stats include 18,321 cubic yards of concrete, 2,600 tons of reinforcing steel, and about 300,000 work hours (162,000 of those from the concrete subcontractor), according to the news release.

The university has previously partnered with Skanska on the Virginia Tech Undergraduate Science Laboratory Building, completed in 2025, and the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute Addition in Roanoke, completed in 2020.

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • FGCU Breaks Ground on New Health Sciences Building

    Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) has launched construction on a major new academic facility that leaders say will reshape healthcare education in Southwest Florida for decades to come, according to university news.

  • Cleveland High School Breaks Ground on Modernization

    Portland Public Schools in Portland, Ore., recently announced that construction has begun on a modernization project for Cleveland High School, according to a news release. The existing building will be replaced with a new, 300,000-square-foot facility at the same site.

  • abstract illustration of school gym

    How the Gymnasium Can Serve as a Model for Learning Space Design

    Multipurpose gyms work because flexibility was built into the brief from the start, not retrofitted later. The same logic applies to academic spaces.

  • Chicago District Completes Construction on New Elementary School

    North Chicago School District 187 in North Chicago, Ill., recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Forrestal Elementary School, according to a news release. The new school marks a major investment in military-connected students and families at Naval Station Great Lakes.