Officially opened on May 10, 2012, as a part of University at Buffalo's 2020 Strategic Plan, construction of Barbara and Jack Davis Hall, known as Davis Hall, started in 2009 with ground-breaking and finished in late 2011 with a construction cost of $75 million including nearly $49.6 million from New York State funding and the rest from corporate and individual endowments.[3][5] Besides UB Engineering, Davis Hall is the new host to both Computer Science and Electrical Engineering departments featuring several new laboratories and research centers.[5]
The building is constructed by Turner Construction and its exterior design is a reminiscent to printed circuit board representing interaction among faculties and students and is designed by Perkins and Will firm.[2] The building is constructed in accordance with LEED's Gold certificate standards.[2]
The building is named after industrialist-turned-political candidate Jack Davis and his wife Barbara, who made the largest endowment ($5 million) among individuals to fund the project.[2] The couple made their first donation of $1.5 million to fund the project in 2008.[3] Jack, a UB Engineering graduate in 1955,[4] and his wife donated an additional $3.5 million to the project making themselves the people who have made the largest endowment in university's history with $5 million endowment.[3]
The building is the new home to Computer Science and Electrical Engineering departments.[2] However, the building supports five other departments such as Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering, Industrial and Systems Engineering and Chemical and Biological Engineering.[4]
On April 4, 2012 it was announced that the building has been certified "Gold" by LEED.[4] The building exceeds the state's energy efficiency code by 34 percent. Some of its features, making the building green, are as follow: