With a new Engineering Building set to start construction in January 2025, Stony Brook University is continuing to develop new buildings and update current campus facilities on a cosmetic and practical level. This move illustrates the departure from the multi-decade-old buildings still in use today. 

William Herrmann, Stony Brook’s vice president for facilities and services, discussed building developments in an interview with The Statesman. 

“Our campus has certainly transformed over time. Today, our newer buildings are designed to meet current building codes and are also more efficient due to advances in building materials and technologies.”

The $125 million budgeted project to construct a new engineering building, which officially began in July 2022, will be built next to the current Heavy Engineering Building, which was constructed in the 1960s. 

With plans to fill this new building with teaching labs, collaborative student spaces and state-of-the-art equipment, this building will mark another milestone in the trend of constructing updated versions of existing buildings on campus. 

In a 2018 University press release about the project, then Chairman of the New York State Senate’s Higher Education Committee Kenneth P. LaValle, expressed the importance of the updates to the success of the department. 

“The upgrading of the facilities is essential to meet the growing demand of the Engineering department and provide the Long Island workforce with the talent necessary to succeed … ”

Students see a fully realized example of the institution’s push to upgrade its facilities with the construction of the new Computer Science Building that opened on July 1, 2015, located next to the original Computer Science Building, which opened in May 1971.  

Walking through a hallway on both buildings’ first floors couldn’t be a more distinct experience from one another. The original building holds empty white hallways with doors that vary in color and shape. Fluorescent lights and emptiness plague the building with the only decoration being laboratory emergency information papers taped to doors. The newer buildings’ hallways in contrast go for a more lively appearance. Switching to a softer white pallet for the walls, space-themed blue bulletin boards, sleek wooden benches and windows for the outside, as well as conference rooms and shiny doors. 

One waiting room area in the original Computer Science Building holds a wide empty area with a cracked floor, sparse places to sit and wrapped boxes. A waiting room area in the new Computer Science Building has massive windows for natural light, plentiful seating options with chairs surrounding tables and signature red sofa chairs for a pop of color. On the side is a cabinet filled with various board games. The practical improvements of increased seating options are a major benefit of the new building, and so are the more grand aesthetics and subtle details such as all the wood used in the building from the waiting room tables to the doors give the building a more thoughtful design. 

When asked about the shift in design approach, Herrmann said the changes are on par with changes in education. The visual and layout changes reflect the end goal of having student spaces for learning and collaboration. 

“New approaches to teaching and learning have also influenced our design decisions. For example, we are now designing more flexible learning spaces that can be easily adapted to different teaching methods and technologies. We are also creating more collaborative spaces where students can work together and learn from each other.”

Walking through both the original and new computer science buildings offers a glimpse of what can be expected from the new engineering building, as well as the clear efforts being made to improve upon the late 20th-century buildings. 

The cosmetic improvements seen from the original to the new building imbue the aesthetic shift seen on campus, with a departure from rustic brick square buildings commonly seen from the time they were constructed to what newer buildings look like today: a more modern look with brighter colors such as the vibrant Stony Brook red with the 2005 Alan S. deVries Center and the 2012 Campus Recreation Center. More modern buildings on campus also have a more window-heavy design with sleeker, more unique shapes, such as the 2010 Simons Center for Geometry and Physics with curved steel and glass walls as well as an art-filled inside with a butterfly wall. All of this gives the building a futuristic look next to its connected Mathematics Tower neighbor, portraying a vivid juxtaposition of the Tower’s cold and rigid appearance and the Simons Center’s vibrance and modernity.

The new computer science and engineering buildings follow the goals listed in the university’s 2013 Facilities Master Plan — a five-phase framework of objectives for improving university academics and facilities, spanning from 2013 to 2023. 

A goal mentioned in the plan is to “Repair or re-purpose existing space.” The document also lists building plans under “Positioned for Growth (2013-2023)” which includes the new Computer Science and Engineering Buildings. 

Constructing modern versions of older buildings hasn’t been the only strategy employed so far. Remodeling older buildings has also taken place. 

In 2021, the Javits Lecture Hall, built in 1968, underwent a massive $38 million renovation that was fully completed by 2024. The building’s mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire protection systems were rebuilt. The over-50-year-old building also saw new student spaces, updated technology and remodeled lecture halls. 

In an interview with The Statesman, Assistant Professor in the Department of Technology and Society Elizabeth L. Hewitt, said “[Older buildings] have ‘embodied energy,’ which is valuable in and of itself, so there are clear advantages to retrofitting older structures to operate more efficiently.” 

“Less raw material is needed, less waste is generated and less transportation of materials to/from a project site is necessary,” Hewitt added.  

Prior to its remodeling, Javits had old chairs and empty hallways. The revamped look works on a practical level, while also giving one of the school’s foundational buildings a lively inside. Decorated walls, brighter wall coloring, a second floor with spaces designed for student breaks and collaboration, theater-style balconies for some lecture rooms and the school’s signature red as always are present throughout. All of which allows for a more comfortable learning environment.  

Currently, there is ongoing construction to add another level to the 1962 Chemistry Building. Furthermore, a potential “life sciences II” building, listed in the master plans, is likely to complement the current life sciences building which was opened in 1974.