DU Tops Off New Engineering & Computer Science Building

DENVER — Construction on a new engineering and computer science building at the University of Denver (DU) is well underway after a topping off ceremony was held on Dec. 18. Students, faculty, staff and donors gathered to watch a 60,000-pound dome be placed on the new 110,000-square-foot facility. The building is scheduled for completion in fall 2016, according to the campus magazine, and will double the school’s current engineering and computer science space of about 65,000 square feet, spread across multiple buildings.

The building is being designed by a partnership of University Architect Mark Rodgers and Denver-based Anderson Mason Dale Architects. Greenwood Village, Colo.-based GH Phipps Contractors is serving as the construction manager.

The topping off of the 50-foot-wide dome marks a new chapter for DU’s science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) programs, as they expand research capacity to meet the needs of Colorado tech companies. It will include new engineering and manufacturing technologies such as 3-D printers. Chancellor Emeritus Daniel Ritchie and university alum Bill Peterson donated nearly $27 million to make the new facility possible.

When complete, the new Engineering & Computer Science Building will feature an open design and include technology labs, flexible classrooms, community spaces and interdisciplinary institutes such as the Knoebel Institute for Healthy Aging. The institute, which will be located on the fifth floor, will support research on the dynamics of aging, including neurodegenerative diseases, cell biology and the biochemistry of aging, according to the campus magazine. Because the building will have more open space and meeting rooms, students and faculty will be able to have more multidisciplinary interactions between programs within the school and with other schools.