Marquette University’s Discovery Learning Complex will feature an innovative Discovery Learning Laboratory and a two-story engineering materials and structural testing laboratory, as well as other new teaching and research laboratories, common areas for students and office space.

Opus North Corp. is the design-builder in tandem with Opus Architects & Engineers as the designer and architect of record. Hammel Green & Abrahamson (HGA) collaborated with Opus on the design of facility.

The facility will feature an innovative Discovery Learning Laboratory and a two-story engineering materials and structural testing laboratory, as well as other new teaching and research laboratories, common areas for students and office space.

The five-story building is being constructed on the south side of Wisconsin Avenue between 16th and 17th Streets.

Demolition of several university-owned buildings on the site has been completed, with materials recycled. The new $35 million building is the first phase of a $100 million, 250,000-sq-ft facility and is expected to be ready for occupancy by August 2011.

“With a history that spans more than a century, Marquette’s College of Engineering continues to educate engineers with the highest level of technical skill,” said Rev. Robert A. Wild, president of Marquette University. “Today we demand even more of our engineers. This new facility will foster the development of the skills we need in the 21st century – innovative thinking, creative problem solving of real world issues, and experience in team dynamics.”

The architecture of the Discovery Learning Complex is both collegiate gothic and forward looking in appearance.

“The facility is organized about a central spine, showcasing dynamic laboratories and providing collaborative spaces to gather and inspire future engineers,” said Tom Kennedy, vice president and general manager of Opus North, Milwaukee.