Virginia Tech Innovation Campus Building Design Team Sought

ALEXANDRIA, VA — Virginia Tech held a meeting Thursday, Aug. 1 in Crystal City for firms interested in providing design services for the first Innovation Campus building. The meeting drew representatives from 175 firms. A request for proposals was issued on July 11, and proposals are due on Aug. 13.

"The standing-room-only crowd today illustrates the engagement and excitement about this project," said Sherwood Wilson, vice president for operations at Virginia Tech, in a statement. "We look forward to reviewing the proposals and finding the right partners to help us carry out a transformational vision."

The academic building, the first construction for the campus, will be built at the north end near the Four Mile Run stream. The building will likely be 300,000 square feet and is expected to be completed by 2024. Virginia Tech plans to award a design contract later this year.

According to the request for proposal document, Virginia Tech is looking for "a deliberate and well-thought-out approach to the public realm, both external and internal to the building, including gathering spaces on the ground level, exterior circulation areas, and landscape integral to the creation of the campus, all designed to promote engagement and interaction."

Virginia Tech's Innovation Campus will be part of a 65-acre mixed-use development at the current Potomac Yard Shopping Center. Before construction happens, the school has applied to locate at existing Potomac Yard storefront space for academic programs, research and marketing to promote the new campus. The Alexandria Planning Commission will consider the request on Sept. 3.

The Innovation Campus will train tech talent for companies such as Amazon, which is setting up its second headquarters nearby in Arlington. The first master's degree students will enroll in fall 2020 in existing space. The full campus could be completed in 10 years and enroll 750 master’s degree students and hundreds of doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows.