Construction of a new building for the College of Business will redefine the center of Clemson University’s campus while creating a state-of-the-art think tank environment for the college’s growing student population.
LMN Architects of Seattle is designing the 162,000-square-foot building in collaboration with the Greenville office of South Carolina-based LS3P, the architect of record. Construction is expected to commence in the summer of 2017 with completion tentatively set for the fall of 2019.
“The new building’s collaborative space will cultivate social and intellectual interaction in a 21st-century learning environment,” said Dean Bobby McCormick. “We are creating a new center of campus and a stronger profile for Bowman Field, while at the same time our facility will be in visual harmony with other buildings on campus.”
The architects said placement of the building north of Bowman Field will expand the campus’ footprint, enhancing the potential for additional structures beyond the business school.
“The College of Business building will essentially become a gateway to a new academic precinct on Clemson’s campus north of Bowman Field,” said Prescott May, a vice president at LS3P in Greenville. “Up to four other building opportunities could result from the strategic placement of the new facility.”
The $87.5 million project will be constructed in the heart of the main campus, adjacent to the Alumni Center and facing Bowman Field. It will feature open, collaborative spaces on the interior and exterior; an expansive atrium; a 220-seat, flat-floor auditorium; business center; board room; incubator space; and café, as well as faculty and departmental offices.
“This building has a civic obligation to campus and will reflect the character of the university,” said James F. Barker, university president from 1999 to 2013 and professor of architecture. Barker and Allen Wood, emeritus trustee, served on the architectural design review committee.
The construction project will be highlighted by extensive landscaping that will further enhance Bowman Field and emphasize the new building’s stature. It will replace Sirrine Hall, constructed in 1938, as the business school’s new home. Sirrine will become swing space, allowing for renovation of other aging campus and academic facilities.
“This will be one of the most important structures constructed on campus in the past 100 years, McCormick added. “We are creating what will become a beehive of activity that will facilitate intellectual and social collisions for students 24/7. This facility furthers the university’s strategic plan by supporting the impact, experience, intellect and engagement that make up the heart of today’s Clemson.”
Funding for the project will come through state appropriations, private gifts and institutional bonds. Building designs are currently in development.
Members of the architectural and construction project team include, LMN Architects, design architect, 2016 AIA firm award; LS3P, executive architect, of Charleston/Greenville, and OLIN, landscape architect, Philadelphia/Los Angeles.
(Written by Rick Uhlmann, Clemson University College of Business.)