Construction on the new Bill & Melinda Gates Center for Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington Seattle campus passed the halfway mark in March and is on target to be completed by the end of 2018. A dedication is planned for early 2019, according to UW News.

The $110 million, 135,000-sq.-ft. facility will feature new instructional and collaborative spaces, expanded research labs, a 250-seat auditorium and a flexible event space, as well as a 3,000-sq.-ft. robotics laboratory, wet lab space to house the school's “leading-edge research in molecular information systems,” and an undergraduate commons that will serve as a “home away from home for students.” It is being funded through public investment and private donations, including $30 million raised by “Friends of Bill & Melinda,” and $15 million from the Gates themselves.

“The idea is that the new building [Bill & Melinda Gates Center] and our current building [Paul G. Allen Center] will complement each other and be part of one unified complex housing,” said Kristin Osborne, spokeswoman of the UW Seattle campus.

The buildings face each other on either side of E Stevens Way NE on the University of Washington's main campus.

“There is wonderful symbolism in having the Bill & Melinda Gates Center for Computer Science & Engineering across the street from the Paul G. Allen Center for Computer Science & Engineering on the University of Washington campus,” said Brad Smith president of Microsoft. “As teenagers, Bill and Paul roamed UW computer labs. They went on to change the face of Seattle and the world — first with Microsoft, and later with their philanthropy. I can't think of a better way for those of us who have had the privilege of working alongside Bill and Melinda to express our gratitude and admiration than to name this building for them.”

CEG