The College of Engineering at Penn State University is constructing two new buildings.
West 1 and West 2 are the first phase of a multiphase master plan to improve College of Engineering facilities.
Construction on West 2 began last fall; because of Covid-19 restrictions, work has just recently begun on the second building, West 1.
The 105,000-square-foot, $88 million West 2 building, which is expected to be completed in 2022, will have multi-use design studios; “cornerstone to capstone maker spaces;” expanded space for the Learning Factory and Factory for Advanced Manufacturing Education (FAME) Lab, academic unit offices; research space; teaching labs for the School of Engineering Design, Technology and Professional Programs; a high-bay research and instructional facility for large-scale experiments; and a home for several multidisciplinary programs.
The 290,000-square-foot West facility 1 will feature general purpose classrooms, computer labs, academic unit offices, offices for student support units, a small library, food services, a student common area and research space and teaching labs for aerospace engineering, architectural engineering, acoustics and civil and environmental engineering. It also will have an indoor flight facility for students and faculty working with unmanned aerial vehicles. Construction is expected to be completed in fall 2023.
About $163 million of West 1’s $228 million budget will come from state capital funding; the rest will come from $30 million in borrowing, $22 million in philanthropy and $12 million in cash reserves.
