LouisianaRush
12-10-2007, 04:11 PM
LSU plans ‘wow’ business building
O’Keefe: Facility will fit in well
By JORDAN BLUM
Advocate Capitol News Bureau
Published: Dec 10, 2007 - Page: 1B
http://media.2theadvocate.com/images/121007rendering.jpg
LSU hopes to begin construction this summer on a new $63 million Business Education Complex consisting of a centerpiece four-floor rotunda, two rows of classroom buildings and a large auditorium.
LSU Chancellor Sean O’Keefe presented the new design schematics for the sprawling complex that were formally approved by the LSU Board of Supervisors.
“This is an extraordinary project,” O’Keefe said, quickly noting that the progressive design still pays homage to LSU’s traditional architecture.
“It’s critically important to being a top-tier business school in the country,” he said.
LSU’s E.J. Ourso College of Business shares space with the College of Engineering in the cramped Patrick F. Taylor Hall — formerly the CEBA building.
The new 153,000-square foot business complex would be built next to Taylor Hall on the Nicholson Drive Extension. The complex would free up the rest of Taylor Hall for engineering to expand.
“It will elevate the university overall, which is a major objective,” O’Keefe said.
LSU officials are proud of this project as an “unprecedented” public-private funding plan with $30 million from the state, $30 million pending from private sources and the remainder picked up by the university.
The private match is what allowed the state to prioritize the project right away rather than build it “sometime next generation,” O’Keefe said.
The problem is that LSU still must raise $17 million more of the $30 million private match during the next few months in order to start construction this summer.
“I’m optimistic. It’s looking pretty good,” O’Keefe said, hinting that some major donations could be on the horizon.
“I’m heading back to donors saying, ‘The time is now to do this,’” O’Keefe said. “We sure don’t want it to be (delayed) because we don’t have the private money.”
Roger Ogden, a New Orleans developer and former LSU board member, volunteered to help coordinate fundraising and architectural design efforts.
“I talk incessantly about public-private partnerships,” Ogden said. “This project will set the precedent for all our universities in the state.”
Ogden said LSU using private funds to work with Princeton, N.J.-based ikon.5 architects for the business complex design is a “cutting-edge” move.
ikon.5 architects recently designed business buildings at Southern Methodist University in Dallas and the University of South Carolina.
“We wanted to bring in the very best designer to begin the next generation of the south campus at LSU,” Ogden said, to make the business school the best in the southern region.
Joseph Tattoni, the principal ikon.5 project architect, said the complex is a “village of structures” around a courtyard similar to LSU’s quadrangle open space. He said the idea is to create a “campus within a campus” environment.
The rotunda will feature three floors of “commons” space that would be the central hangout and study area for students and faculty, as well as administrative offices, student organizations space, career services and other offices.
The classrooms would be comprised of eight, two-floor buildings — a graduate wing and an undergraduate wing —and then a 300-seat auditorium at the other end of the rotunda.
LSU board member Charles Weems of Alexandria said his only concern was ensuring that the complex matches with LSU’s traditional architecture.
Ogden emphasized that the complex will still reference the traditional terra-cotta designs and that the rotunda will be the “crown jewel” with the “wow factor” to impress investors and potential students.
O’Keefe said the “revenge of the Kirby Smith era” — referencing the design of the out-of-place former dormitory — ensures that LSU will not build any more facilities that do not blend in on campus.
The business complex also would offer new parking next door, O’Keefe said. The only buildings being torn down are a small landscape services building and a small LSU Agricultural Center laboratory.
O’Keefe said both can easily be relocated.
O’Keefe: Facility will fit in well
By JORDAN BLUM
Advocate Capitol News Bureau
Published: Dec 10, 2007 - Page: 1B
http://media.2theadvocate.com/images/121007rendering.jpg
LSU hopes to begin construction this summer on a new $63 million Business Education Complex consisting of a centerpiece four-floor rotunda, two rows of classroom buildings and a large auditorium.
LSU Chancellor Sean O’Keefe presented the new design schematics for the sprawling complex that were formally approved by the LSU Board of Supervisors.
“This is an extraordinary project,” O’Keefe said, quickly noting that the progressive design still pays homage to LSU’s traditional architecture.
“It’s critically important to being a top-tier business school in the country,” he said.
LSU’s E.J. Ourso College of Business shares space with the College of Engineering in the cramped Patrick F. Taylor Hall — formerly the CEBA building.
The new 153,000-square foot business complex would be built next to Taylor Hall on the Nicholson Drive Extension. The complex would free up the rest of Taylor Hall for engineering to expand.
“It will elevate the university overall, which is a major objective,” O’Keefe said.
LSU officials are proud of this project as an “unprecedented” public-private funding plan with $30 million from the state, $30 million pending from private sources and the remainder picked up by the university.
The private match is what allowed the state to prioritize the project right away rather than build it “sometime next generation,” O’Keefe said.
The problem is that LSU still must raise $17 million more of the $30 million private match during the next few months in order to start construction this summer.
“I’m optimistic. It’s looking pretty good,” O’Keefe said, hinting that some major donations could be on the horizon.
“I’m heading back to donors saying, ‘The time is now to do this,’” O’Keefe said. “We sure don’t want it to be (delayed) because we don’t have the private money.”
Roger Ogden, a New Orleans developer and former LSU board member, volunteered to help coordinate fundraising and architectural design efforts.
“I talk incessantly about public-private partnerships,” Ogden said. “This project will set the precedent for all our universities in the state.”
Ogden said LSU using private funds to work with Princeton, N.J.-based ikon.5 architects for the business complex design is a “cutting-edge” move.
ikon.5 architects recently designed business buildings at Southern Methodist University in Dallas and the University of South Carolina.
“We wanted to bring in the very best designer to begin the next generation of the south campus at LSU,” Ogden said, to make the business school the best in the southern region.
Joseph Tattoni, the principal ikon.5 project architect, said the complex is a “village of structures” around a courtyard similar to LSU’s quadrangle open space. He said the idea is to create a “campus within a campus” environment.
The rotunda will feature three floors of “commons” space that would be the central hangout and study area for students and faculty, as well as administrative offices, student organizations space, career services and other offices.
The classrooms would be comprised of eight, two-floor buildings — a graduate wing and an undergraduate wing —and then a 300-seat auditorium at the other end of the rotunda.
LSU board member Charles Weems of Alexandria said his only concern was ensuring that the complex matches with LSU’s traditional architecture.
Ogden emphasized that the complex will still reference the traditional terra-cotta designs and that the rotunda will be the “crown jewel” with the “wow factor” to impress investors and potential students.
O’Keefe said the “revenge of the Kirby Smith era” — referencing the design of the out-of-place former dormitory — ensures that LSU will not build any more facilities that do not blend in on campus.
The business complex also would offer new parking next door, O’Keefe said. The only buildings being torn down are a small landscape services building and a small LSU Agricultural Center laboratory.
O’Keefe said both can easily be relocated.
