DURHAM, NC – Global development and construction firm Skanska announces the topping out of William & Mary’s new Integrated Science Center 4. In February 2023, Skanska was awarded the construction of the new 124,000-SF, multi-function teaching and research facility at the university's Williamsburg, Virginia campus. The project also includes the partial renovation of the school's existing 21,500-SF science center.
Designed to accommodate various academic disciplines, including departments of Data Science and Computer Science, and provide space for various design engineering undergraduate coursework, the Integrated Science Center aims to foster Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) initiatives. The facility, the fourth and final building making up the Integrated Science Center, features cutting-edge laboratories and teaching spaces tailored for both instruction and research.
“This is our first project with William & Mary and it’s been a wonderful experience working to bring this project to its current state,” said Mark Balling, executive vice president responsible for Skanska’s North Carolina and Virginia building operations. “We are incredibly thankful for the many team members putting in the extra effort to get this facility at the nation’s second oldest institution of higher learning to this important milestone safely and on schedule.”
The effort to achieve the topping out milestone is highlighted by:
- 40,780 hours of working safely
- 350 aggregate piers
- 668 tons of steel
The ground floor makerspace lab will open up onto the lower courtyard to create a “maker patio” that will bring the engineering and design out into the campus. The Hub at the heart of the building puts science on display, connecting all floors and providing major public areas for social events and presentations.
The site where the Integrated Science Center is located is a transition point between the ravines and the plateaus that define the campus landscape. The project brings the two together as the grade and plantings transition from the informality of the ravine to the formality of the quad. Other site features include a new hanging garden, and an elevated, planted courtyard between ISC4 and the existing ISC1 building which frames views toward the tree-lined Crim Dell Creek.
Construction commenced in February 2023 and is on track for substantial completion in August 2025.