The Hampton Roads Association for Commercial Real Estate honored Old Dominion University’s Chemistry Building with the Award of Excellence for Best Educational Project at their annual event in November. Moseley Architects served as the architect of record for the four-story, 110,500-square-foot facility, which was designed by SmithGroup and completed in 2021.
The HRACRE Excellence in Development Design Awards program seeks to identify and encourage those that have invested and continue to invest the extra effort to bring quality design and development to the Hampton Roads real estate community. A panel of five industry experts evaluated 45 submissions and presented the awards at their 27th annual event on November 8th, 2023, at the Neon House in Norfolk, Va. Jeff Hyder, managing principal of the project and CEO of Moseley Architects, accepted the award at the ceremony.
Hampton Roads and the commonwealth are brimming with opportunities for students in STEM-H fields, those majoring in science, technology, engineering, math and health. Old Dominion University (ODU) graduates the second-largest percentage of STEM-H students in the commonwealth. The Chemistry Building signifies ODU’s commitment to meeting the desire of both students and employers in the region and beyond.
About the Facility
With its existing building outdated for current technology and unsuitable for renovation, ODU identified an underutilized site on campus for the modern academic and research facility. It sought a center that would support undergraduate student success and encourage its students to pursue further science study at the university.
The building houses 13 teaching laboratories, 24 research labs, a tutoring/active learning center, faculty offices, and departmental administrative and technical support space.
Key features include a planetarium, breakout study spaces, full-height sliding glass marker boards, whiteboards and collaborative workspaces furnished with flexible, branded fixtures. Study and collaborative spaces are also complemented by the extensive use of glass to enhance natural light, visibility, and transparency, thereby promoting ODU’s “STEM on display” initiative.
Throughout the building, features such as wall coverings with chemistry motifs, molecular lighting designs and brickwork pay homage to the periodic table of elements. A custom LED wall panel at the facility’s planetarium entrance mimics the light of specific stars.
Project Team
Design architect: SmithGroup
Architect of record: Moseley Architects
Construction manager: W.M. Jordan Company
Technology: NV5 Engineering and Technology
Fire protection engineering: JSJ Design Group
Planetarium design: Bowen Technovation
Structural engineering: Lynch Mykins
Civil engineering: VHB
Landscape architect: Ann P. Stokes Landscape Architects
Geotechnical engineering: Terracon
Cost estimating: Forella Group
Building commissioning: Facility Dynamics Engineering
Chiller plant design services: DJG
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