Mitchell Hall (Randolph Hall Replacement)

About the project

Randolph Hall is located in the heart of the North Academic District and is Virginia Tech's largest College of Engineering building. It houses multiple College of Engineering departments that serve more than 2,300 undergraduate majors, 500 graduate students, and award more than 650 degrees each year. 

Randolph Hall was constructed in two phases between 1952 and 1959. The existing 166,000 gross-square-foot, the 67-year-old building requires updating to help advance the university's Beyond Boundaries academic and research missions, enhance the future tech talent pipeline, sustain existing College of Engineering enrollment, meet new building code and accessibility requirements, including top-notch sustainability features, and modernize building systems.

A capital project request was submitted to demolish the existing building and within the building's existing footprint, replace it with a new and expanded 285,500 gross-square-foot facility containing the highest-quality academic and research space to support the needs of students and faculty. The new facility is slated to add over 70 percent more gross square feet in the same footprint. 

Philanthropy

Per approval of the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors, the new building replacing Randolph Hall will be known as Wendy and Norris E. Mitchell ’58 Hall.

Norris Mitchell ’58 and his wife, Wendy, have committed $35 million to the Virginia Tech College of Engineering. The gift will go toward construction as well as activities and programming for a showcase building for the college, which will replace the more than 60-year-old Randolph Hall.

As of Dec. 2021, this is the largest ever gift by a Virginia Tech alumnus and it will advance a long-awaited project to replace aging Randolph Hall with what will be the largest building on the university’s Blacksburg campus. More information on the Mitchell's gift is available online.

Timeline

Additional design features and elements

• The existing Stability Wind Tunnel, one of the largest university-owned wind tunnels in the country, currently located to the east of the building, will remain and will be enclosed within the new facility. 
• The expanded replacement building will include:
  • Approximately 54,000 assignable square feet (ASF) of classrooms and instructional laboratories.
  • Approximately 12,400 ASF of student team-based projects for national science competitions and demonstrations spaces for team projects.
  • Approximately 56,000 ASF of research laboratories.
  • Approximately 55,000 ASF of shared faculty, staff, and student office spaces.
  • Approximately 7,200 ASF of student advising, collaboration, teaming, studio space, and instructional lab breakout space. 
  • Approximately 6,400 ASF of building support and storage spaces. 

Project Renderings