Out of the Lecture Hall, Into the Robotics Lab

Out of the Lecture Hall, Into the Robotics Lab

Virginia Tech, Goodwin Hall

Higher Education

When Virginia Tech engaged ZGF to program and design Goodwin Hall, it sought to replace outdated engineering education facilities with a state-of-the-art building—one that would better prepare its students to apply disciplinary knowledge in real-world settings. Complete with highly specialized instructional and research laboratories, classrooms, and maker space, the signature engineering building supports hands-on problem solving and active learning for undergraduates.

Location

Blacksburg, VA

Square Feet

159,500

Completion date

2014

Project Component

Architecture services

Interior design

Certifications

LEED Gold

Students enter Goodwin Hall through a dramatic, four-story atrium where floating overhead displays, including a Rolls-Royce jet engine and a study / meeting capsule, showcase the power of engineering.

The prominently displayed 13,000 pound, nine-foot high Trent 1000 engine serves as a teaching tool for students.

Inside the suspended capsule, informal collaboration and study space supports individual focus and group work, allowing learning to continue long after class ends.

Goodwin Hall is divided into two wings—a four-story wing for chemical engineering and a five-story wing for mechanical engineering—with shared public spaces and a central atrium. In addition to instructional and research laboratories, the program includes a 300-seat auditorium, eight classrooms, faculty and departmental offices, administrative space for engineering education and student services, meeting rooms, casual study spaces, and a café.

Engineering science is prominently displayed inside the building. Open corridors and student gathering spaces wrap around transparent teaching and research laboratories, inviting visitors to observe the science and activity taking place within. The building itself is used for research with more than 240 accelerometers embedded into the structure to collect and monitor occupant movement, and structural and vibration mechanics. 

A glass storefront system puts engineering education on display for the broader campus community.

A showcase mechanical engineering laboratory houses 3D-printers and equipment for rapid prototyping.

Goodwin Hall's formal lecture hall and eight active learning classrooms support diverse pedagogical approaches.

Designed to fit within Virginia Tech's Collegiate Gothic campus context, Goodwin Hall is clad in Hokie Stone masonry and precast concrete elements with glazing wrapping the building's corners and stair towers. A vocabulary of alternating stone and window-bay continues on the east and south façades of each wing in a symmetrical composition. The building's L-shaped plan creates a new quadrangle, which offers landscaped respite for visitors. A rain garden with pathways and seating areas marks the building's main entry point.

Energy-efficient strategies, such as heat recovery, recycled air in public spaces, and stormwater management systems helped the building achieve LEED Gold® certification. Goodwin Hall's landscape is both educational and sustainable, with stormwater infrastructure displayed as a water feature.

Engineering exhibit pads are sited on a grass meadow surrounding Goodwin Hall, facilitating outdoor experimentation and study.

Rainwater from the roof is piped to the building's base, where it flows out of sculptural granite scuppers into runnels leading to a bioretention pond.