Construction for New Science and Engineering Hall Sparks Mixed Reviews

By Evan Ritscher

Beginning at 8 a.m. every Monday through Saturday, many GW students are awoken by a sound that can be heard across half of campus. The noise emanates from a construction site on H Street N.W., between 22nd and 23rd streets, one of many sites across campus. 

The construction site will be the home of the university’s new science and engineering hall, but right now it looks like anything but an academic building.

The area, which encompasses almost an entire square block, is currently just a deep hole in the ground containing construction equipment including about 10 bulldozers, excavators, large jackhammers, and a large crane. The giant machines that currently occupy the city street represent the dirty part of the process of change and improvement the university is currently undergoing. 

GW’s Board of Trustees approved the project in 2010 after a year of planning and design. Construction began in the summer of 2011 and is scheduled for completion by January 2015. 

Along with the construction of the science and engineering hall, GW is renovating Gelman Library and Ross Hall; constructing a new School of Health and Health Services building; reconstructing GW-owned properties along Pennsylvania Avenue; and constructing a new GW Museum, garage, and program space for the law school.

For university administrators, the construction, particularly that of the science and engineering hall, will further advance the school’s image as a leader in research and will also bring leaders in science to the university.

“The science and engineering hall will be that anchor that brings people into our community,” Steven Lerman, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, said in a video discussing the project. “GW can be a convening place; it will bring people from all over the world into our community.”

Peg Barratt, dean of the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, also said GW “will be the hub for what is a world science center around the greater D.C. area.”

Still, the work is far from over and the school is currently in the middle of the noisy, dirty and disruptive stage of its improvement plans. 

“I don’t think a day has gone by without the noise in someway disrupting me, either while I’m asleep or when I’m trying to work,” Luke Austing, a Fulbright Hall resident, said.

Brian Shear, another Fulbright resident, said he understands the work is ultimately good for the university, but wishes the school would do more to minimize impacts on current students. 

In late August, GW Housing sent out an email to the residents of Fulbright, JBKO, Madison, and Munson halls saying the university was working to reduce “exceptionally noisy” activities in the early morning. The email also said the university provides free earplugs and loans white noise machines to students affected by the noise. 

Regardless of the noise, the university believes the construction furthers the university’s goal of transforming GW into a hub for academic research and discussion, and the construction will continue as the university moves towards expansion. 

For current students, the noise seems to be something they will just have to live with.

Science and Engineering Hall Groundbreaking Ceremony

This past Thursday the University broke ground at the location for the future Science and Engineering Hall. GW President Steven Knapp, faculty, students, and neighborhood partners took part in the special ceremony that occurred in the now open lot on H and 22^nd Streets NW at the site of the old University Parking Garage.

With an expected completion date of 2015, the new building will have 400,000 square feet above grade and 290,000 square feet of space for teaching and research laboratories for faculty and students. Not only will faculty and students of the Columbian College and School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS) be conducting research in the new building, but so will researchers from the School of Medicine and Health Sciences.

The Science and Engineering Hall will be the first new building the School of Engineering and Applied Science has received in more than 50 years. One reason for building this new facility is that the current classroom space for the SEAS is spread over multiple locations around campus and includes many outdated classrooms and labs.

Despite losing the University Parking Garage, GW will still maintain a minimum of 2,800 parking spaces around campus at various lots and garages. The new building will have 380 parking spaces underground, something very important in an area already lacking in parking.

At a cost of $275 million, the new building comes at a time when the cash strapped University is already more than $1 billion in debt. Fortunately, GW will avoid slipping further into debt, as the new building will be financed by lease payments from The Avenue apartment complex, research contracts, and philanthropic gifts from the GW community.


Click here to view photos from the ground breaking ceremony.

Science and Engineering Hall Coming Soon

Construction projects are nothing new for GW students and the Foggy Bottom community. In the past decade, GW has seen the building of Duques Hall, Ivory Tower, Potomac House, West Hall and more. Now you can add another building to the long list of GW’s construction boom: Science and Engineering Hall.

Although GW has been busy building recently, the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences has not received new facilities in more than 50 years. Current lab and classroom space is outdated and spread across multiple locations around campus. School officials expect the new science center to boost the science and engineering program's appeal.

"Having a strong, vibrant engineering program at GW will position GW as the engineering and science hub in the heart of the nation's capital, allow us to attract the best and brightest students and faculty and help GW grow into a top tier comprehensive institution," said SEAS Dean David Dolling.

The new building will incorporate teaching labs that use new methods for hands-on learning, breakout spaces for students, as well as several highly specialized research laboratories including a three-story-tall high bay. The high bay is one of five facilities to be built in the new building and will include a crane capable of moving 20 tons of material from a loading dock throughout the building and a “strong floor and strong wall,” structures that can withstand intense material testing.

Located between 22^nd and 23^rd and H and I streets, the new building will replace the recently torn down University Parking Garage. Despite losing the parking garage, the University will not completely lose parking space as the new building will have four floors of underground parking.

In April, the University began moving UPG parkers to spaces in The Avenue’s parking garage and the Kennedy Center. The University will add 380 spaces under the Science and Engineering Hall to accompany 178 spaces under South Hall and 362 GW spaces at the Avenue. Overall the University will have a minimum of 2,800 parking spots at various locations.

Conceived in 2007, the idea for the project was approved by the University’s Board of Trustees in a unanimous vote. Before voting, the board reviewed design and cost estimates and listened to university leaders about how the complex will affect essential University functions such as recruitment, research, and learning. The demolition of the parking garage began in June of this year and will continue into the fall. When all is said and done the building should be open for use in January 2015 at a cost of $275 million. Although the University is now more than $1 billion in debt, the project will be funded by lease payments from The Avenue, contracts supporting research and various philanthropic gifts from the GW community.