Bryant University Expands Campus with Property Donation

  • By Matt Jones
  • 06/08/23

Bryant University in Smithfield, R.I., recently announced plans to expand its campus after a real estate donation from nearby Fidelity Investments, according to a news release. The 250,000-square-foot space at 100 Salem Street will play home to the school’s College of Business, Graduate Programs office, Executive Education and Career Accelerator, and the Women’s Leadership Institute in conjunction with the university’s Vision 2030 initiative.

The building is the largest real estate gift in university history since 1967, the news release reports. In addition to the above programs, it will also provide space for extracurricular activities and student gatherings, both formal and informal.

The university will renovate the space to feature classrooms, lab space, entrepreneurial innovation space, faculty and administrative space, and meeting and gathering spaces. The building’s design is intended to foster student engagement in design thinking, financial technology, professional sales, AI, and data analytics. It will also allow for the founding of the “Innovative and Entrepreneurship Ecosystem” initiative, which will help business students in bringing projects from the initial idea to securing capital funding. The new program will help collaboration between university students and faculty and various industries throughout the state.

According to the news release, Bryant University’s Vision 2030 program will continue to encourage investment in academic excellence and facilities, experiential learning, and Top 1% student outcomes.

“What an extraordinary opportunity to leverage what Bryant already does so well—create real-world-ready graduates,” said David Beirne, Bryant University Board of Trustees Chair. “Our goal is to provide the number-one undergraduate business education in the nation. The expansion of our campus gives the entire university, and the College of Business specifically, needed innovation space for our students to ideate bold, future-forward visions to transform the world. Fidelity understands and appreciates the impact of Bryant graduates. We are grateful for their continued investment in our students and our future.”

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at mjones@1105media.com.

Featured

  • Florida Elementary School to Undergo $47M Reconstruction

    The School District of Osceola County in Kissimmee, Fla., recently announced a partnership with construction firm Skanska to reconstruct Reedy Creek Elementary School, according to a news release. The $47-million project will involve the new construction of a 96,000-square-foot academic center, renovating the remaining facilities, a full-site redevelopment, and demolishing portions of the existing school.

  • Fort Collins to Convert 1980s Office Park into Junior High School

    The Liberty Common School, a charter-public school in Fort Collins, Colo., recently broke ground on an adaptive reuse project that will convert an 1980s-era office park into a 45,000-square-foot junior high school for seventh- and eighth-grade students, according to a news release.

  • New Jersey PreK–12 School Breaks Ground on New STEM Building

    Saddle River Day School (SRDS) in Saddle River, N.J., recently announced that it has broken ground on the new Dr. Kristen Walsh Hall of Science & Entrepreneurship, according to a news release. The school partnered with DIGroup Architecture for the design of the new facility, which will provide the school with space to expand its STEM and business education classes.

  • American University Launches Sustainability Research Project

    American University in Washington, D.C., recently began a research project exploring the relationship between purchase decisions for university campuses and sustainability, according to a news release. The study seeks to explore how “greening” the purchases involved in student housing renovations, breaking ground on new facilities, buying new equipment and supplies, and more, can foster larger sustainability goals.