The arts are alive in Blacksburg! One of Virginia Tech’s newest Living-Learning Community is the Creativity and Innovation District. It combines a 596 bed residence hall with nearly 30,000 SF of public space devoted to artistic, performance, and research-based experiences.

On the eastern edge of campus where it meets downtown Blacksburg, the community expands access to arts spaces and student life facilities. The ground floor spaces accommodates activities and programs such as studio space, maker space, performance, and practice space.

Structurally, we chose the Eco Span system for the upper floors. This consists of a concrete slab on deck supported on composite bar joists on cold formed metal studs. This provent system was chosen over others such as wood framing, conventional steel framing or concrete wood framing due to the speed of erection, the established fire ratings, and low cost.