The University of Denver today broke ground for the construction of the new facility that will house the Daniel Felix Ritchie School of Engineering and Computer Science and the Knoebel Center for the Study of Aging. Construction on the building is estimated to take 18–24 months to complete.
University officials unveiled the new building as part of a broader announcement regarding its intent to expand interdisciplinary STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) offerings. The facility will provide space for increased collaboration among complementary programs, creating a hub for interdisciplinary research and scholarship. It also will serve as an anchor for STEM-related disciplines on the southern portion of campus.
Incorporating an open design, the approximately 130,000-square-foot facility will provide vastly expanded research and instructional spaces, flexible classrooms, interdisciplinary centers and institutes, community areas, faculty and administrative offices and food service. The building will consolidate programs currently dispersed throughout five different buildings into one collaborative location.
It will be located on the southern portion of campus between the Newman Center for the Performing Arts and Olin Hall.
The building is made possible by gifts totaling more than $41 million from Chancellor Emeritus Daniel Ritchie, Betty Knoebel and the late Bill Petersen.