Campus Construction Continues through Winter Months

As a new year unfolds, construction equipment continues to roar around campus.

This semester, projects include infrastructure upgrades, new buildings, and a facility that is on the national radar for its net-positive energy use.

NEARLY COMPLETE

Tech Tower

The interior renovation of the Lettie Pate Whitehead Administration Building, better known as Tech Tower, is nearing completion. Occupants, including members of the Office of the Registrar, members of the College of Sciences, and members of the College of Engineering, will move back into the space during the spring.

IN PROGRESS

West Campus Dining Commons

This new eatery and academic space will include retail options and more than 500 dining seats. The structural steel has been erected, and the exterior envelope is being pulled together. The project is on schedule for a Fall 2017 opening.

Van Leer Interdisciplinary Design Commons

Construction is active on the renovation of the rotunda at the south side of the Van Leer building. The completed three-story facility will house a 15,000-square-foot makerspace with advanced fabrication tools and electronic technologies. The space will support research and hands-on learning, and will offer a dedicated project-based lab area for undergraduate courses that cover subjects such as embedded systems, analog devices, and communications, as well as senior design projects.

The project is on schedule to meet material completion in December, with the aim of opening for occupants by February 2018.

Atlantic Drive

The last phase has begun on the replacement of underground steam lines and hardscape improvements along the entirety of Atlantic Drive. When the project is complete in Fall 2017, there will be a new pedestrian corridor from 10th Street all the way to Tech Green.

Construction fencing will soon be moved further north and initial hardscape upgrades including brick pavers, granite curbing, and bike racks will be in place from Tech Green to the Howey Physics Building by the end of January.

LibraryNext

LibraryNext will be a cutting-edge library to support excellence in scholarship and research well into the 21st century. Construction fencing has been strategically placed around the east side of the library to support demolition and abatement activities inside of the building. This fencing will change over time as more intense construction in the Crosland Tower begins in the summer months. Updates will be posted on the construction fencing. The Library continues to provide its robust services to the campus community throughout construction. Learn more about this project at librarynext.gatech.edu.

Coda / High Performance Computing Center

Ground broke in December on this new high-rise office tower, of which Georgia Tech will be the primary tenant. As an expansion of Technology Square, Coda will be framed by Armstead Place, Fourth Street, Spring Street, and West Peachtree Street. The 21-story building will place an emphasis on multi-disciplinary research centered around computing and include a state-of-the-art data center known as the High Performance Computing Center. Construction and occupancy is planned be complete in 2019.

COMING SOON

Campus Safety Building

To make way for the new Campus Safety Building at the corner of 10th Street and Hemphill Avenue, the building at 490 10th Street will soon be demolished. Demolition activities are starting this month and will last for approximately three months. Some elements of the building have been removed and stored to be reused in the Living Building at Georgia Tech. Once the structure is removed, construction will begin on the site for the new home of the Georgia Tech Police Department.

Living Building

The Living Building Challenge at Georgia Tech is now in design review, and construction is expected to begin in the latter part of this year. The building will be located on the corner of Ferst Drive and State Street, a location chosen specifically to leverage solar energy generation, among other reasons. This project is the first of its kind in the Southeastern U.S., meeting stringent requirements including net-positive water and net-positive energy use. Learn more at livingbuilding.gatech.edu.