MIAMI—It's not every day that an iconic educational building rises from a cow pasture. But that's exactly what happened in Lakeland, FL at Florida Polytechnic University as Skanska delivered the 162,000-square-foot building for Innovation, Science & Technology (IST).

After winning ENR Southeast's Best Project Award in the higher education category, the IST building is set to serve the newest university in Florida's inaugural class. The white-domed IST building features a louvered roof system that adjusts with the sun's angle and is surrounded by a ring of curved metal pergolas that shade its outer terrace and walkways.

“Welcome to the cathedral of learning,” Chuck Jablon, vice president of operations at Skanska, said at the opening celebration. “If you're a builder, this is what you dream about doing in your career. You think about it at nighttime, you think about it coming into work—it doesn't leave you.”