VIRGINIA – Construction on the first building at the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus in Alexandria is nearing completion.
According to Virginia Tech, Academic Building One is expected to open to students in January 2025. The 11-story, 28,000-square-foot building is one of three buildings the campus is planning on a 14,000-square-foot site in the Potomac Yard neighborhood.
“Without a doubt, it’s just a beautiful building from the outside with remarkable shapes,” said Lance Collins, vice president and general manager of the Innovation Campus. “These multifaceted shapes are very striking to me. It will be a landmark in the region and also has a very open and collaborative interior.”
The ground floor of the building will feature a two-story lobby and welcome center, as well as a large classroom with partitions that allow for use as an auditorium. A welcome center will be located on the south side of the lobby. The second and upper floors will feature amenities and wellness areas for students and faculty. The building layout will have most offices in the middle of each floor and common areas near windows. There are also several specialty labs in the building, including a two-story drone cage for testing drones and an area on the ground floor where students can present their final projects.
Virginia Tech intended to transfer elements of its main campus in Blacksburg to the new campus in Alexandria. One example is a large green space near Academic Building One – and later also near the other two academic buildings. The open space is modeled after the drillfield on the Blacksburg campus.
“The Innovation Campus was an opportunity to develop and implement a broader vision of what a land-grant institution like Virginia Tech can do for the state,” said university architect Liza Morris. “We serve both the rural areas of the state and the urban economy, and we want our campuses to reflect that breadth.”
The SmithGroup architectural firm used computer processes and building modeling techniques based on artificial intelligence to design the building. The building will feature a photovoltaic array on the facade that uses three technologies to generate electricity, including solar energy from the south and southeast sides. Vertical terracotta louvres on the exterior will provide shade from excessive heat and glare inside the building.
“We have all this technology, but it’s at the service of the building’s users,” said Sven Shockey, a Virginia Tech graduate and vice president and design director at SmithGroup. “They can enjoy the view and the warmth of the building. We have photovoltaic panels with terracotta slats that give the building a very warm glow.”
The Innovation Campus was announced in 2018 as part of Amazon’s second headquarters. The first building broke ground in September 2021 and could be part of a larger mixed-use development by JBG Smith in Potomac Yard. JBG Smith had also proposed an arena and entertainment district for the Washington Capitals and Wizards to the teams’ owner, but that plan did not go ahead.
The Innovation Campus plans to enroll 750 master’s students and 200 doctoral students in computer science and engineering when the campus opens. There are currently more than 350 doctoral students enrolled at Virginia Tech’s Falls Church campus.
