Students at Purdue University’s Polytechnic Institute and College of Engineering recently completed their first academic year in the newly constructed Dudley and Lambertus Halls. The two halls make up the Engineering and Polytechnic Gateway Complex, shared by Purdue Polytechnic and the College of Engineering. This new facility has brought these two groups of students together in hopes of fostering collaboration for years to come.
“I know our Polytechnic faculty, staff and students are proud to work and learn here,” Purdue Polytechnic Dean Daniel Castro said at a dedication ceremony in April 2023. “I also believe this facility marks a major inflection point, [and I am] thrilled about partnering with and sharing this facility with the College of Engineering. There will be [opportunities] for collaboration among faculty and students that I wish existed when I was an engineering student here 20 years ago.”
The genesis of this collaboration took place for more than five years. Here’s the key information on the process and the project.
Planning and Construction
The Purdue University Board of Trustees approved the project back in the middle of 2019 and construction began in early 2020. First came the demolition of two previous academic buildings – the Nuclear Engineering Building and Michael Golden Labs, which dated back to 1910. The new facility was then constructed on the space where those structures once stood, and are buttressed by Knoy Hall of Technology, the other major facility dedicated exclusively to the Polytechnic Institute. Construction was completed by April 2023, with the first full semester of classes kicking off in fall of that year.
The planning and construction process featured a collaboration between Ennead as the design partner, Fink Roberts & Petrie as the structural engineer, Schneider Geomatics as the civil engineer, Rundell Ernstberger as the landscape architect, and Shiel Sexton as Construction Manager.
The New Facility
The two halls combine to make up the largest academic building on campus at 255,000 square feet. This massive structure cost the university $140 million to construct, much of which came from donations. Leading donors Bill and Marty Dudley and Peter and Ann Lambertus were honored by having the halls named after them.
Most of the space in the facility is taken up by classrooms, labs, and some academic offices. The purpose of building this gateway complex was to provide more space for lab-centric instructional methods, increase the quality and quantity of lab space, and to bring these labs all together under one roof.
The facility features 14 new polytechnic labs that had no prior equivalent at the university, allowing for totally new, hands-on instruction the university was not previously able to offer. These labs are used by the Schools of Construction Management and Engineering Technology as well as the Departments of Computer Graphics Technology and Computer Information Technology.
State-of-the-Art Equipment
The classroom and laboratory spaces are equipped with the latest and greatest in technology and equipment. For example, the computer graphics technology students have access to powerful Alienware brand desktops, allowing them to run the most complex 3D visualization software. Dudley Hall’s construction laboratory is a complete, modular construction site all located within one facility. The engineering technology’s labs offer equipment for a wide range of subjects, from welding and robotics. The computer and information technology students have access to a cybersecurity lab, which allows them to learn about how federal intelligence agencies and research institutions operate.
Meanwhile, the facility features a “Smart Learning Factory”, which is essentially a lab that allows to students to create physical products all the way from concept to post-manufacturing data analysis.
At Construction Protection Systems, we’re proud to have played a small part in development of Purdue University’s Dudley and Lambertus Halls. Stay tuned for more updates from the makers of 1-2-3 Door Shield—the original, reusable door protection system.