New Buildings Take Shape on Fairfax Campus
By Fran Rensbarger
Two construction projects now under way on the Fairfax Campus will help the university ease the demands for classroom and residential space. Rising on the once-wooded space between Mason Hall and Patriot Circle is Academic IV, a state-of-the-art learning center, and filling the spot next to President's Park is Liberty Square, which will provide housing for 500 students.
Academic IV's design reflects the recommendations of a task force that Joy Hughes, vice president for Information Technology and chief information officer, organized several years ago, says Reid Herlihy, vice president for facilities. "It basically established a new classroom standard for George Mason, a technological standard." Four rooms will have raised floors that make the space totally flexible: Furniture will be on tethers so a professor can change the configuration of the class without calling in technical support to rewire the computers. "You can change the furniture at will," he says.
The building will also feature three student computer labs - two instructional labs and a large walk-in lab - and a faculty instructional lab. "Faculty instruction on how to use the technology is part of the mission of the building. It's not just a classroom building, but also a learning center for the faculty," says Herlihy.
In addition to the computer labs, Academic IV will have two classrooms, with 66 and 44 seats, respectively, with tiered floors and continuous countertop desks; three seminar rooms; and a 150-seat and a 300-seat lecture halls, with sloped floors and rear-projection TV screens. GMU-TV's studio will be relocated to the top floor, which will feature higher ceilings to accommodate lights.
Ten percent of the building will house the Information Technology Unit and Division of Instructional and Technology Support Services. The latter will move out of Robinson to the new facility and expand staff to provide one technician per two classes.
A special feature of the new building will be the Decision Laboratory Suite, which will offer a 30-seat interactive laboratory, three seminar rooms, a control and viewing room, manager's office, kitchen and rear projection room, all linked to a lobby. The lab will be available to lease to corporate users.
The building's exterior will have the familiar brick veneer accented with buff-colored precast elements already found on campus. The building will be accessed from the lowest level from the south entrance; from the north, a floor higher.
Costello Construction began work on Academic IV on Aug. 27, 2001, and will complete it by the end of January 2003. The four-story, 100,000-square-foot building, designed by architect Cooper Robertson/ Gauthier Alvarado andAssociates, will cost $14.5 million to construct. The furnishing and equipment budget is approximately $4.5 million, although it has not yet been funded.
Liberty Square, the new student residence, comprises five loosely connected blocks that form an internal courtyard. The single bedrooms will be organized in two- and four-bedroom apartments with kitchens and a bathroom for every two bedrooms. Adjoining the building will be parking for 500 cars.
The structure will be brick with pitched roofs, similar in appearance to neighboring President's Park, which will be improved as part of the same construction project. Eisenhower Hall, the central building in President's Park, will be expanded with an all-night café serving diner-style food, meeting rooms, and a large TV room.
"The idea is that it will be a place students can go at 3 o'clock in the morning, so they won't have to go down to Denny's. It'll be an on-campus gathering place," says Herlihy.
Construction started on Nov. 9, 2001, for the three- and four-story structures that will be ready for fall semester 2003. The architect is Little and Associates, and the contractor is Dustin Construction. The residents' room fees will fund the $24.9 million cost. |
