Tennessee Tech University celebrated its second groundbreaking in the span of less than a week with the ceremonial kickoff to construction on the J.J. Oakley Innovation Center & Residence Hall. The 102,000-square-foot state-of-the-art residence hall will provide stylish and comfortable accommodations for 400 students, featuring a mix of double occupancy rooms and pod-style semi-suites. A nearly 12,000-square-foot innovation center attached to the residence hall will include fabrication spaces, multipurpose event and presentation facilities, a podcast studio, meeting rooms and other functionalities – all designed to spark creativity and collaboration among students. A dining space will also offer convenience items such as coffee, snacks and prepared foods.
“This project brought a wonderful challenge and opportunity to accommodate two distinct purposes, in one building, uniquely stitched into the fabric of the campus,” said Eric Whitfield, principal at WBA Architecture. “It is a building that is both a residence hall, focused on providing the best student living experience, as well as an innovation center, offering space for all students to create, experiment and learn. These ideas are folded into the design, respecting the Georgian colonial aesthetic of the campus and pointing to the future. It has been an absolute pleasure working with the university to bring this vision forward and we are very grateful for the opportunity.”
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