Skanska Signs On to $100M LSU College of Engineering Renovation and Expansion

By Eliza Theiss, Associate Editor

Skanska has announced that Skanska USA Building has signed a contract to renovate and expand Patrick F. Taylor Hall on the Louisiana State University (LSU) main campus in Baton Rouge.

Skanska will head the project as part of a joint venture with MAPP Construction. It holds a 70 percent share of the contract at a value of $54 million (SEK 350 million). The company will include the contract in the 2014 Q2 order bookings.

Expansion work on the 301, 390-square-foot facility is expected to start in November 2014 and will add 129,166 square feet of classroom, lab and office space as well as a new auditorium. Renovation work is expected to kick off in January 2015 and will entail reconfiguring and updating existing space in the three-story building. The project is expected to complete in June 2017.

The 1977-built educational facility is home to LSU’s College of Engineering. As previously reported, the expansion of Patrick F. Taylor Hall will also house a brand new chemical engineering facility, which is expected to be completed by June 2016, while the renovation work will finish in October 2017. Global architecture and design firm Perkins + Will and Baton Rouge-based Coleman Partners Architects LLC are handling design and architecture on the project.

Financing for the $100 million public-private partnership project is covered through $50 million in state capital outlay funding, while an additional $50 million had to be raised by LSU through private donations. As of mid-February 2014, LSU had raised $52.5 million or 5 percent above its targeted funding goal from individual and corporate donors, reported Commercial Property Executive.

Image courtesy of LSU College of Engineering