Miami University to Undergo $169M in Summer Construction

Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, is set to see construction work on three major projects totaling $169 million across its campus this summer. Local news reports that work is already underway on two new facilities at $154 million and the renovation of a third for $15 million. All three projects are scheduled for completion in 2023.

The first new construction project is the Clinical Health Sciences and Wellness Facility, which comes with a price tag of about $96 million. “We are so excited, because very soon…we’ll have this great Clinical Health Sciences and Wellness Facility that will be home to some innovative and dynamic programs,” said Miami University spokesperson Jessica Rivinius. “It’s going to serve so many students, and it will be so convenient.”

Michael Crowder—associate provost, dean of the graduate school, and chemistry and biochemistry professor—elaborated that the facility will play home to the university’s Student Health Center as well as its speech pathology, audiology, graduate nursing and graduate physician associate programs. The building will measure in at 165,000 square feet and is scheduled to open in late spring or early summer of 2023.

The second new construction project is the upcoming McVey Data Science Building, set to cost $58 million. The 87,000 square-foot space is scheduled for completion in December 2023. The groundbreaking ceremony took place in October 2021, and a large portion of its funding came via a $20-million donation from university alum Rick McVey.

Finally, renovations are also in progress on the College@Elm Innovation and Workforce Development Center, a partnership between the university and the city of Oxford. The work costs approximately $15 million, and the center is estimated to open its doors to students in January 2023.

The facility will house amenities like an entrepreneurship center, startups, a resource center for workforce and small-business development, a design and testing space for manufacturing operations, and office space.

Rivinius also said that the university’s ultimate goal is to create interdisciplinary learning spaces and programs that allow faculty and students across different departments to collaborate and participate in experiential learning, according to local news.

About the Author

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

Featured

  • Rethinking K-12 Schools as a Continuous Learning Experience

    Most students move through three or more separate facilities during their K-12 journey, yet the built environments they encounter at each stage have traditionally been designed in isolation, with little continuity in spatial language, learning philosophy, or physical resources. Each new school is a reset with different layouts, learning models, expectations, and ways of moving through a building. The next generation of school design is making the case that the first day of kindergarten and the last day of high school can and should feel connected through common support systems and infrastructure in the physical environment.

  • Montclair State University Debuts New VR Facility

    Montclair State University in Montclair, N.J., recently announced the completion of a new virtual reality learning facility developed in partnership with Dreamscape Learn, according to a news release. The 2,450-square-foot lab space is inside the College of Communication and Media building and will serve students pursuing careers in digital media, virtual reality, and content creation.

  • California District Opens New Continuation High School

    The Fort Bragg Unified School District (FBUSD) in Fort Bragg, Calif., recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Noyo High School, a continuation high school that provides alternative education options for students in grades 6–12, according to a news release. The district partnered with Quattrochi Kwok Architects for design and FRC Inc. for construction, and the project’s funding came from Local Bond Measure B.

  • DLR Group Hires Three for Higher Education Practice

    Integrated design firm DLR Group recently announced that it has brought three new hires on board to help shape its higher education practice in California and the northeast, according to a press release.