Hokie Stone
On the main campus of Virginia Tech, a major university in Virginia, USA, most of the buildings incorporate Hokie Stone as a building material. The name originates from Hokies, which is the official name for the university's sports teams.
Hokie Stone is a medley of different colored limestone, often including dolomite. Each block of Hokie Stone is some combination of gray, brown, black, pink, orange, and maroon. The limestone is mined from various quarries in Southwestern Virginia, Tennessee, and Alabama, one of which has been operated by the university since the 1950s.
The majority of the buildings on campus are made of Hokie Stone. Exceptions include Durham, Whittemore, Derring, Wallace, Litton-Reeves, Squires, Hillcrest, the entire Upper Quad (old campus), and several others. Though these buildings have brick or modern exteriors, they often incorporate Hokie Stone somewhere on the building, usually near the foundation or as architectural accents. Although a significant portion of the buildings on campus aren't dominated by Hokie Stone, every building surrounding the Drillfield is, including the iconic Burruss Hall. This legacy inspired John Rocovitch, Rector of the VPI&SU Board of Visitors, to make the use of Hokie Stone on all new buildings imperative. However, Hokie Stone is more expensive than other modern building materials. The blueprint for McComas Hall, completed in 1998, was reduced to 118,225 square feet (11,000 m²) in order for the entire building to be covered in Hokie Stone, rather than just the facade.