An extensive renovation changed the building from a dark and dated space to a light-filled modern lab and work area for graduate students.
The newly renovated Tech Way Building includes 42 work and study areas for graduate students in the North Avenue Research Area along with a new break area and updated huddle rooms. (Photo: Candler Hobbs)
With the new academic year comes new beginnings across Georgia Tech. This year, that includes an old building writing a new chapter in its decades-long history. The Tech Way Building in the North Avenue Research Area (NARA) has been revitalized and reimagined over the last 18 months to include new engineering labs and spaces for graduate students to work and develop ideas.
Built in 1965, the building was originally constructed for underwater research with only minor renovations since. The space had few windows, no gathering or work areas for students, and a limited number of labs. A wall divided the building into two separate sections, with one dedicated to Department of Defense research that severely restricted access.
Last year, a renovation focused on joining the two parts of the building, adding 42 graduate student study and work areas, and increasing capability by doubling research lab space. Add in new conferences rooms, a refreshed break area, and lots of natural light, and Tech Way feels like a wholly new place.
"We’ve had a couple of labs in here over the years, but the students didn’t like it because it was really dingy. It was a 1965 building,” said Cary Ogletree, who led the renovation project as facilities project manager in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering. “Now you can put students in here, and they’re happy to be in the building. And that’s what we wanted to do: make this a viable place for grad students.”
The renovation also means students who used to come to the building to perform experiments and then go elsewhere to work can stay put. That includes students from the nearby the Carbon Neutral Energy Solutions (CNES) Lab and Ben T. Zinn Combustion Lab, for example.
“The CNES building, the combustion building, the food packing plant — any students who need a place to sit and work can come over here now,” Ogletree said.
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A conference room in the Tech Way Building before the renovation. (Photo: Ashley Ritchie)
One of the new huddle rooms in the renovated Tech Way Building, including a variety of modular and movable furniture to accommodate a variety of uses. (Photo: Candler Hobbs)
Derek Nichols spent many years in the building studying under George W. Woodruff Chair Ari Glezer, whose lab operates a wind tunnel. Their industry partners were frequent visitors, and he sometimes was embarrassed helping them navigate the nearly abandoned other half of the building.
He also recalled many lonely hours working on his experiments.
“One other grad student and I were the only ones using the entirety of the front half of the building. There were times when I would spend weeks collecting data and never seen anyone,” said Nichols, who finished his Ph.D. in the spring and now works for the U.S. Navy. “That changed after the renovation. Students started working at the desks. It’s a completely different space.”
The Tech Way Building continues to house several labs, and the renovation created space for Lukas Graber in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering to brings his research team back to campus from Georgia Tech’s NEETRAC research facility in south Atlanta. Additional lab spaces are ready to be built out for future research needs or new faculty members.
One of those new faces will be Bachir El Fil, a 2021 mechanical engineering Ph.D. graduate who joins the ME faculty as an assistant professor this fall.
“It is amazing to see how much has changed in just three years. I am particularly excited about the renovated Tech Way space in the NARA complex,” he said. “It is where I spent a lot of my time during my graduate studies. Now it will be where my students will sit.”
That’s music to Ogletree’s ears. And he hopes it’s just the beginning of growing activity in Tech Way. He said the aim of the renovation wasn’t just to serve the Woodruff School or a particular group of students, but rather to create a collaborative environment for all.
“ME was the lead, pushing it and saying, ‘We need to do this,’ but we're not looking at it just as ME space. We want it to be for any school that's here and that needs space for students.”
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