Inside the Glass:
A look into UWF's new Laboratory Science Annex by Dakota Parks • photos courtesy of UWF
Through its 56-year history as a university, the University of West Florida has endorsed an influx of new students, new programs and the new construction of buildings to support them. This Fall, the university boasted its newest expansion at the grand opening of the Hal Marcus College of Science and Engineering’s Laboratory Sciences Annex. The labs created additional space for the growing number of STEM students and expanded teaching facilities for the thriving biology and chemistry programs. 58 Business Climate
If you have strolled through campus in the last year and a half, you have probably heard the buzzing of construction equipment, witnessed the sea of white construction hard hats or encountered a blocked road, sidewalk or parking lot. Sitework construction began in midNovember 2017 with the chainlink barriers and preparation of the site, but the project officially broke ground on Jan. 5, 2018.
The $27 million project was funded by the Florida State Legislature and managed by Greenhut Construction Company, Inc. of Pensacola. The unique and integrated design of the building was modeled by local architecture firm, Caldwell Associates, alongside Perkins&Will, a global firm that specializes in higher education science and technology. The design of the building not only houses 12 new teaching labs and