Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

SMU Breaks Ground on Business School Expansion

  • By Matt Jones
  • 05/12/22

Officials from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, gathered on Friday, May 6, to celebrate a groundbreaking ceremony for a $140-million expansion and renovation of its business school. The project is set to expand the footprint of the Cox School of Business by more than 30 percent, according to local news, and will connect four new buildings with the school’s existing facilities.

The project is scheduled to include the renovation of about 157,000 square feet from three existing campus structures: the Joseph M. Wylie Fincher Building, the Trammell Crow Building and the Cary M. Maguire Building. The buildings will undergo structural demolition, and all roofing systems will be removed. The buildings’ exterior stone and brick façades will remain in place wherever possible, according to the university website.

The project will also entail about 63,000 square feet of expansion to existing buildings and underground connecting spaces. One side of the Fincher building will extend to connect with the Crow and Maguire buildings, while separate additions will be added to the Crow and Maguire buildings, also.

Construction is scheduled to take about two years. The renovated and expanded facilities will be called the David B. Miller Business Quadrangle.

“We are retooling the Cox School to create a more collaborative environment—to give students and faculty easier access to collaborate, to gather and share ideas and gain inspiration from one another,” said Matthew B. Myers, Dean of the Cox School of Business. “We will offer students more opportunity to obtain their business education in a ‘9 to 9’ environment, meaning they’ll come to classes, stay for lunch or dinner, work together with other students and their professors, and remain connected with and at Cox all day long. In short, our improved facilities will nurture an environment that will lead to a richer learning experience and a lifetime of connections. This really marks a new era for the Cox School.”

The university is partnering with Rogers-O’Brien Construction for construction and GFF Architects for architecture and design.

About the Author

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

Featured

  • 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.

  • University of Kansas Breaks Ground on Entrepreneurship Hub

    The University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kan., recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for the new KU Entrepreneurship Hub, according to university news. The Hub is part of the university’s School of Business and will include spaces for experiential learning and programming.

  • Philadelphia Middle School Facility Earns LEED Gold Certification

    The Alternative Middle Years (AMY) at James Martin Middle School in Philadelphia, Penn., recently received a LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, according to a news release. The School District of Pennsylvania partnered with KSS Architects on the project.

  • Benson Polytechnic High School in Portland, OR

    Preserving Legacy, Designing for the Future

    As historic academic buildings age, institutions face a difficult decision: preserve and adapt or demolish and rebuild. How do we honor the legacy of these spaces while adapting them to meet the needs of modern learners?