Expanding Horizons and Square Footage

The School's physical transformation reaches another milestone this fall as construction wraps up on two Teaching and Research (TR) additions and ramps up on two more. 

Construction work on TR3 and TR4, which comprise 110,000 square feet, is scheduled to finish by the end of the year, according to Herb Hansen Jr., senior associate dean for finance and administration. Then, the great floor-by-floor migration into the $28.5 million facilities begins. Faculty and staff will move into the office addition, TR4, over a six- to nine-month period; however, equipping and occupying the complex labs in TR3 will take longer. 

But don't look for the rumble of front-end loaders and cement mixers to disappear from the campus anytime soon. Construction is already under way for TR5 and TR6, the last puzzle pieces that finish out the campus's square block. Concrete footings were poured this summer, and construction of the lower level parking areas should begin this fall. The TR5 and TR6 additions, which will cost $55 million, are scheduled to be finished by early summer 2004. They will house a new 335-seat auditorium, ninth floor exercise facilities, and two atria that reach from a fourth floor student lounge to rooftop skylights. "We are trying to create a sense of community within the building," Hansen says. "I think it's important to create a space for people to mingle, interact, and talk."

By the time the construction blitz is completed, the School's main building will have doubled its 1991 size and will contain almost 1 million square feet of space. 

The timeline above tracks the major past and future building additions.