Old Dominion University unveils vision for landmark Engineering and Arts Building
For more information, please contact:
Andrea Chin, Communications Director
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Gary McCluskie, Principal
Email: [email protected]
Old Dominion University (ODU) unveils the design for its new landmark project – the Engineering and Arts Building. The 140,000-square-foot facility will bring together the Frank Batten College of Engineering and Technology and the College of Arts and Letters in an integrated environment for interdisciplinary learning, with Diamond Schmitt leading design of the arts and performance spaces, Ballinger designing the engineering spaces, and VMDO serving as architect of record.
“By bringing the performing arts into direct dialogue with research and engineering, ODU is creating a unique environment where artistic expression, technical inquiry, and experimentation can shape one another,” says Principal Gary McCluskie. “The new Engineering and Arts Building will do more than support interdisciplinary exploration. It will create the conditions for new ideas, methods, resources, and partnerships to emerge—advancing innovation across disciplines.”
A central focus of Diamond Schmitt’s work is the arts and performance program, which includes an 800-seat Convening Hall at the heart of the building, designed as a highly adaptable performance and presentation space. As both an academic resource and cultural asset, it will extend the life of the building beyond the classroom and create new opportunities for engagement between ODU and the broader community. A three-storey central atrium and commons envelopes the hall, anchoring research environments, advanced manufacturing areas, robotics labs, immersive media spaces, visualization studios, rehearsal rooms, and design facilities around a shared civic and academic core—encouraging students and faculty to move fluidly between analysis, fabrication, testing, rehearsal, presentation, and public engagement.
Conceived as both a campus crossroads and a gateway, the building strengthens connections across ODU and establishes a more welcoming threshold between the University and the surrounding community, making the interdisciplinary activities and life of the building visible and accessible—part of the everyday campus experience.
Learn more about the design reveal in the full media release.