Nearly a year and half after construction began, Adolfson & Peterson Construction recently celebrated the grand opening of Marquez Hall on the Colorado School of Mines campus, made possible by more than $27 million in philanthropic donations from Mines’ alumni and others.

Courtesy of Adolfson & Peterson Construction

The cutting-edge building houses the School of Mines Dept. of Petroleum Engineering.

The cutting-edge building houses the School of Mines’ Dept. of Petroleum Engineering and allows the school to push the forefront of new technology, as well as remain at the top of its class in recruiting and training new petroleum engineers.

The 64,000-sq-ft, state-of-the-art facility has the capacity for up to 400 students and features customized classrooms and research and teaching laboratories. Smart classrooms are equipped with wireless networking and interactive audio-visual technology and classrooms and laboratories are adaptable for conducting made-to-order professional education programs.

A multi-purpose visualization classroom will support interdisciplinary collaboration among the departments of Petroleum Engineering, Geology and Geophysics. Offices and meeting space are designed to enhance interaction between students and faculty, as well as research teams.

The facility includes informational displays to educate campus visitors—which will include thousands of K-12 students—about the petroleum industry. Marquez Hall is the first academic building on the Mines campus to be built without state funds in more than 30 years.

A&P served as the general contractor for the LEED-Silver-targeted  building, designed by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson in partnership with Anderson Mason Dale.