The University of Massachusetts (UMass) Boston broke ground in February on the $113 million General Academic Building No. 1 (GAB No. 1), the second academic building in the university’s 25-year master plan.

With 181,000 square feet, the four-story building will serve the growing student population at UMass Boston and will include a reconfigurable 130- to 200-seat theater, a 150-seat recital hall, studios, teaching labs, student lounges and a cafeteria.

“General Academic Building No. 1 is vital in providing the necessary space to meet our growing enrollment and academic offerings,” Chancellor J. Keith Motley said in a statement. “The building’s state-of-the-art classroom spaces, laboratories, and performance areas will truly transform the learning and teaching experience here at the University of Massachusetts Boston.”

Designed by Boston-based Wilson Architects and constructed by Gilbane Building Company of Providence, R.I., GAB No. 1 is expected to open in 2015. The UMass Building Authority financed the building and will be overseeing the project.