Industry News

Mount Holyoke College, as part of its new master plan, will transform its 19th-century gymnasium building into the campus hub for student life. Miller Dyer Spears, based in Boston, is designing the three-story Blanchard Campus Center. While preserving the historic character of the structure, a coffee bar, cybercafe, gameroom, art gallery, college store, mailroom, info center, and student lounges will be featured on the main level. A two-story addition will expand dining capacity to 350 seats and will double as a large performance and events space.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Office of Real Estate has plans for a $46-million, 185,000-sf building at a 7.5-acre site in Cambridge next to MIT and Technology Square. The project will gut an historic 1830s 135,000-sf building and build a new five-story, 50,000-sf adjacent structure with plans to lease the entire lab/office facility to a biotechnology company. Surface parking for 272 vehicles is included in the plan. Completion is anticipated in 2002. The project construction manager is Barr & Barr.

Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, housed in a state-of-the-art  instruction facility in a former streetcar repair building called the Car Barn, now has plans for a new $55-million, 200,000-sf business school building. The structure, part of the university master plan, will accommodate undergraduate and graduate students, non-degree executive development students, and offices for the faculty. The university expects to begin a three-year construction project in September on a large dormitory complex.

The 66-year-old U.S. Custom House became the first building in Pennsylvania to receive an Energy Star Buildings Label from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for energy efficiency. The Energy Star Buildings Label recognizes the nation's top 25 percent most energy efficient buildings in the areas of energy performance and indoor environment standards.

Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering broke ground in May 2000 for its new high-tech campus on a 70-acre site in Needham. Phase one construction, slated for completion in fall 2001, will include a classroom/laboratory building, a student center, administrative building, and residence hall. Phase two will encompass four additional structures--a lab building and three residence halls--to be completed at a later date.