Rendering of future south entrance of Cordley Hall

Exterior rendering of the future south entrance of Cordley Hall - Hennebery Eddy Architects

Project Description

Science, research and teaching have all changed since Cordley Hall was built in the 1950s and 60s. Renovations are underway to meet the needs of 21st-century science while creating a more welcoming, collaborative space for students and faculty.

Cordley Hall is a 236,000-square-foot research building, home to the departments of Integrative Biology and Botany and Plant Pathology and serving both the College of Science and the College of Agricultural Sciences. These two programs teach more than 1,100 students a year and obtained over $10.5 million in new grant funding in FY2018.

Cordley Hall is also home to two natural history collections, The Herbarium and the Oregon State Arthropod Collection. With more than 3.5 million specimens combined, they are the top collections in their fields in the Pacific Northwest and serve as a rich resource for the university community. Both collections, which are temporarily relocated to the Coast Range Building, will be more prominently displayed when the renovation is complete.

After more than five decades, Cordley Hall has served long past its expected lifespan, and this project will update nearly every building system. In addition to seismic safety and accessibility upgrades, modern mechanical and electrical systems, including standby power will be installed. New fire sprinklers and alarms, lighting, interior finishes, windows and entries are also included.

The building’s functional arrangement will be updated to meet new research space guidelines, including modular laboratory designs that can be adapted for future research. The result will be a safer, more resilient building that is responsive to current and projected research needs.

Also part of the project will be building the North District Utility Plant within an existing chiller loop. 

The Cordley Hall renewal project will reduce the deferred maintenance backlog on the Corvallis campus by $45 million.

Last Updated: 
Wednesday, March 20, 2024

Project Details

Project Status: 
Active
Project Category: 
Major capital project
Capital renewal project (deferred maintenance)
Programmatic improvements (classroom upgrades, etc.)
Projected Completion Date: 
Fall 2024
Type of Project: 
Renovation

Project People

Project Manager: 
Dustin Sievers
Architect: 
Hennebery Eddy Architects