The TCU Energy Institute is tucked down in the lower level of Tucker, but once Rees-Jones Hall opens next fall, the program will hope to raise its profile.

The Energy Institute, along with the Institute of Child Development and the TCU Idea Factory, will call the new building home next semester.

Ken Morgan, director of the Energy Institute, said one of the biggest advantages of moving into the new hall will be the visibility that it brings.

“We get so many visitors, lots and lots of companies, lots and lots of countries,” Morgan said. “It’s time to get us a little bigger footprint here to operate out of, and fortunately the university helped lead that for us.”

Morgan also said the relocation will provide the Institute with the room it needs to grow. He said the new space will be used for offices as well as to host organizations that come to visit the program.

Another feature of the new building will be a global seminar room to link classes and discussions with other organizations from around the world, Morgan said.

Lukin King, one of five vice presidents of the TCU Energy Club, said having the new facilities will help bring insight to the growing club. King also said the new space could create an identity for the group.

“We don’t really have a place here where we can just go and meet,” King said. “We have to kind of go and rent out somewhere like the Kelly Center.”

Harold Leeman, the director of facility planning and construction, said the $27.2-million project will mainly consist of office space and classrooms; however, it will also have an atrium that can be used for receptions and other events.

“It’s going to be a big space [with] places to live and socialize,” Leeman said. “I think a lot of departments will use it as a meeting place.”