The west side of Cordley Hall now features modern lab facilities that are built to accommodate changing research.
by Abbie Leland
In Spring 2022, the Cordley Hall Renewal Project reached an important milestone in the four-year renovation process. After two years of being under construction, the west side of Cordley reached occupancy at the end of May 2022, and building occupants moved back into the updated space.
The major renovation project aims to turn the 236,000-square-foot building into a modern learning and research space. Cordley Hall was originally constructed in the mid-1950s.
Cordley is home to the departments of Integrative Biology and Botany and Plant Pathology. The building serves both the College of Science and the College of Agricultural Sciences. Additionally, Cordley is home to two natural history collections, The Herbarium and the Oregon State Arthropod Collection.
“The interior of Cordley West now features modern lab facilities that are built to accommodate changing research. All of the building systems, windows, non-concrete walls and lab fixtures have been replaced and updated,” said OSU Project Manager Dustin Sievers. “It’s a light and bright welcoming space now.”
The Coast Range Building, located along SW Research Way in Corvallis, has served as a functional temporary home for Cordley West occupants throughout the renovation process.
“Without the Coast Range Building, the effect of the two-year renovation on Cordley West would have greatly impacted department operations for Botany and Plant Pathology. With these alternative spaces, they were able to maintain most of the existing functions of research and teaching,” Sievers said.
In June 2022, building occupants returned to Cordley’s newly renovated west side as the move-out process began on the east portion of the building. Renovation work for Cordley East is planned to ramp up at the end of summer.