Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

William & Mary Begins 10-Year, $700M Campus Improvement Plan

  • By Matt Jones
  • 08/03/23

The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Va., recently announced that construction has begun on a ten-year project that will lead to the replacement or renovation of 80% of on-campus residences, according to college news. The project will cost an estimated $700 million and will take place across three phases.

Phase one entails building four new residence halls for a total capacity of 1,204 new beds, renovating two existing dorms, and building a 50,000-square-foot dining facility in west campus. The first step of construction—the demolition of the existing Yates Hall to make room for construction—began in July and is scheduled for completion in fall 2025. Phase one’s total cost is an estimated $320 million.

“This project reflects our steadfast commitment to meeting the needs of students of today and of generations to come,” said Vice President for Student Affairs Ginger Ambler. “We have kept students at the center of this ambitious project, designing beautiful, innovative spaces that will allow them to thrive in community with one another.”

Phase two involves redeveloping the college’s Campus Center to incorporate student housing, a dining facility, and admissions office, and a bookstore; redeveloping the Randolph Complex to build a new residence hall; redeveloping the site of Richmond Hall; and upgrading One Tribe Place. Phase 2 will cost an estimated $350 million.

Finally, phase three will involve developing student housing in West Campus at a site still to be determined; renovating four existing residence halls; and renovating the Lettle Pate Whitehead Evans Graduate Complex.

The new residence halls will include sustainability initiatives like geothermal heating and cooling, as well as transitioning the fossil-fuel-using systems in two existing dorms with geothermal energy.

The university partnered with VMDO Architects for the buildings’ designs and with Balfour Beatty and Kjellstrom+Lee for construction.

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • UNH Marks Construction Milestone on Oceanic Exploration Facility

    The University of New Hampshire in Durham, N.H., recently celebrated a major construction milestone with a beam-signing ceremony for the new Center of Excellence for Operational Ocean and Great Lakes Mapping, according to a news release. The facility’s ultimate goal is to support research, training and technical assistance in ocean mapping.

  • Myrtle Grove Elementary

    Phased Construction Keeps Students on Campus During Rebuild

    When Escambia County School District needed to replace most of Myrtle Grove Elementary School in Pensacola, Fla., it had three distinct challenges: honor the school's legacy in the community, bring state-of-the-art learning environments to the county, and be seamlessly built on the same site as the active school campus.

  • Campus Safety Requires Using Every Resource Available

    Across the U.S., school and campus leaders are facing a security landscape that has changed dramatically over the past decade. Incidents on school property have increased in recent years, with several consecutive years setting record totals. According to analysis of data by CNN, dozens of shootings now occur on school grounds annually across K-12 and higher education environments.

  • ZeroEyes, Academic Innovators Partner to Provide Safety Solutions

    ZeroEyes, which produces a multi-analytics weapons detection and threat intelligence platform, recently announced a partnership with Academic Innovators, according to a news release.