Location: 
Blacksburg, Virginia
Total Square Feet: 42,423
Construction Period: Feb 1996 to Jun 1998

Construction Team
Associate Architect: Skidmore, Owings and Merrill - One Front St., San Francisco, CA 94111
General Contractor: The Quandel Group, Inc. - 4755 Linglestown Rd., Harrisonburg, PA 17112
Structural Engineer: Stroud Pence & Associates - 204-A Grayson Rd., Virginia Beach, VA 23462
Electrical Engineer: The Greenwood Partnership - 901 Main St., Lynchburg, VA 24505
Mechanical Engineer: Mathew J. Thompson III, Consulting Engineers, Inc. - 9308 Warwick Blvd., Newport News, VA 23601
Landscape Architect: Shriver and Holland Associates - 355 W Freemason St., Norfolk, VA 23510
Cost Estimator: Rollins & Associates - 4663 Haygood Rd., #207, Virginia Beach, VA 23455

Following proposals to build on four alternative sites, the site for the College of Architecture building was designated by the University to be South of the Cowgill Hall building in the Cowgill Hall Plaza. The design solution had been developed in response to programmatic space requirements which include faculty and staff desires for large, open and flexible studio space and, if possible, the preservation of the then existing much public space of Cowgill Plaza.

The College of Architecture Addition is developed as a two-level structure built beneath a renovated Cowgill Plaza. Included within the project scope is a lower level which accommodates four centrally skylit studios flanked by classroom/seminar spaces, computer labs, silkscreen studio, photography studio and related support spaces. An upper mezzanine level overlooks the studio space and accommodates the printmaking studio, ceramics studio, industrial design wood and metal shops, faculty offices, conference rooms, and other related support spaces.

The design facilitates the preservation and development of the existing Cowgill Plaza area, an important campus "urban" node which is part of the Campus Master Plan and is defined by the existing surrounding buildings, Cowgill Hall, Hancock Engineering Building, Johnson Student Center and Burruss Hall. The diagonal placement of the skylight elements on the plaza above the four studios allow for and facilitates the existing campus pedestrian traffic ways that are both axial and diagonal within and across the public space. Precast linear skylights and air intake and exhaust shaft structures define and provide for outdoor seating within the plaza. The plaza design is developed to minimize construction impact to existing trees, to remain within the plaza precinct and to accommodate new site landscape elements and building entry stair and elevator kiosks.

Manufacturers/Suppliers
Exterior Walls - Windows: Kawneer, William Bayley; Insulation: Dow Chemical.
Roof - Hot Rubberized Asphalt: American Hydrotech, Inc.; Skylights: Architectural Skylight Co.
Floors - Color Hardened Concrete: L.M. Scofield Company; Tile: Dal-Tile.
Interior Walls - Paint: Sherwin Williams; Doors: Eggers Industries; Metal Ceilings: Epic Metals Corp.; Hardware: Best; Lighting: Columbia; Drinking Fountains: Halsey Taylor; Toilet Partitions: 
Global.
Elevators - Thyssen Dover.