Wake Downtown
Get It Down(town) to a Science!
Wake Downtown is home to our Biochemistry & Molecular Biology (BMB), Medicinal Chemistry & Drug Discovery, and Engineering programs.
New thinking. The old-fashioned way.
Wake Downtown is the 151,000-square-foot home of Engineering, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and the concentration in Medicinal Chemistry, located in the heart of downtown Winston-Salem. Our downtown facilities feature hands-on teaching labs, project-based studios, and advanced research labs.
Wake Downtown is in the same building as the Wake Forest Bowman Gray School of Medicine. BioTech Place and the Wake Forest Institute of Regenerative Medicine are just a short walk away; therefore, undergraduates have access to a variety of settings for volunteer work and clinical shadowing in addition to research.
Backed by our historical liberal-arts core, the program marries engineering, aesthetics, and our commitment to public service. What do we see? A student developing an artificial limb with the functionality derived from engineering and the form inspired by studio art. It’s an engaged brand of engineering that transcends science and math, and enters into a realm of limitless possibility that benefits humanity.
By the Numbers
40%
The percentage of female students who graduate Wake Forest with an engineering degree
25%
The national average of women who graduate with an engineering degree
92
Courses offered during the 2024-25 academic year
605
Students taking classes at Wake Downtown in Spring 2025
There’s more here than just classes.
And we’re not only STEM! Street Photography, Urban Planning, Literature of the City, and a variety of other courses are taught at Wake Downtown, as it is the ideal location for exploration both in- and outside the classroom.
Plenty of community events take place in this area too, ranging from the Maya Angelou Garden Party to local charity fundraising events, community yoga classes, concerts, and more.
Tour Our Downtown Campus
If you are interested in learning more about Wake Downtown we encourage you to visit in person.
On the guided tour, you will get a first-hand look at the classrooms and research spaces utilized by students in these programs. If the tour date your prefer happens to be full or there are no tours occurring on the day of your visit, the building is available for self-guided tours. Materials can be found at the lobby desk and QR codes throughout the building which lead to videos and additional information regarding the courses and research taking place here.
