State Support for Georgia Tech Buildings

The State of Georgia has played a central role in the growth of Georgia Tech since the founding of the university more than 120 years ago. During Student Day at the Capitol, the Georgia Tech group will showcase student and faculty work, as well as four recent capital projects made possible through the support of our state lawmakers. Without the partnership of the state, these buildings and the teaching, learning, and idea creation that happens inside their walls would not be possible:

Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons

Built: August 2011
Total State Support: $60 million 
Total Project Cost: $93.7
Home to: labs, classrooms, academic and support offices, breakout study rooms, rehearsal studios 
Interesting Fact: Staged as a building within Googleplex as a major backdrop for the movie The Internship.

Whether it’s meeting up with students for a group project, finding a good place to hunker down and study, or getting a caffeine fix from the Starbucks located on the second floor, Clough is the go-to location for Tech students. Named for President Emeritus G. Wayne Clough, this building features more than 2,100 seats for individual and group studying and has become a comfortable environment outside of the normal learning setting for students to take advantage of technologically advanced learning opportunities.

Hinman Research Building

Built: 1939 
Renovated: 2011 
Total State Support: $6.4 million
Total Project Cost: $10.7 million 
Houses: design studio workspaces, gallery spaces, and digital building research labs
Interesting fact: Features high-bay space with original overhead crane that was used to facilitate early research for the gyroscope, helicopter, and microwave

Built back in 1939, the Hinman Research Building was the first freestanding research facility in Georgia. It was first built to house the Georgia Tech Engineering Experiment Station, the precursor to today’s Georgia Tech Research Institute, and was soon transformed to accommodate more defense-related research with the onset of World War II. Many decades later, after years of talk about turning it into a rehabilitated space for Tech’s growing architecture program, Hinman was renovated in 2011 to accommodate research and studio space, offices, digital labs, and galleries for large-scale events.

Its open space creates a modern, stylish feel while the clutter of experimental architecture designs across the numerous studio tables creates an air of innovation and creativity. Hinman has always been a large workplace, but now it serves as the primary studio and research facility for the graduate and Ph.D. students in the College of Architecture. Today, one of the building’s largest student projects involves net zero energy housing, a sustainability project in which students will research and develop a house prototype that will become a laboratory for low-energy efficiency testing. 

Lloyd W. Chapin Building

Built: 1910
Renovated: 2014
Total State Support: $1.875 million
Total Project Cost: $2.5 million 
Home to: academic support operations, conference rooms, and office space. 
Interesting Fact: Situated at the center of Tech’s Historic District, on the crest of “the Hill,” the highest elevation of the school’s original nine-acre campus.

The Chapin Building was the first health-related building on campus, built as an infirmary in 1910. Today it is home to OMED, the Office of Minority Educational Development, as well as classrooms, office space, and conference rooms.

OMED focuses on programming for Georgia Tech’s underrepresented groups, primarily African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans, providing academic resources and mentoring to make the transition into college and eventually out into the job market. The 100-year-old building underwent an extensive interior and exterior restoration to provide a better hub of administrative and student support space. The renovation preserved the historic features of the building while updating it for safety, service, and access for those with disabilities, as well as energy efficiency.

Engineered Biosystems Building (EBB)

Projected Completion: Summer 2015
Total State Support: $64 million
Total Project Cost: $113 million 
Home to: labs for collaborative research in chemical biology, cell and developmental bioengineering, and systems biology
Interesting Fact: You can watch the completion of EBB live at oxblue.com/open/mccarthy/ebb

The five-story, 200,000-square-foot building will house faculty members and other researchers in three research neighborhoods: chemical biology, cell and developmental bioengineering, and systems biology. Within each neighborhood, scientists and engineers from many different disciplines will share lab, office, and communal spaces, making it possible for them to share ideas, perspectives, and resources in an entirely new way.