New York-based architect Polshek Partnership today unveiled its design scheme for the $70 million Business Leadership Building at the University of North Texas in Denton.
Designed to provide UNT’s 5,600-plus business majors the highest level of academic instruction and professional training, the 180,000-sf facility will include an open atrium, an internet café, and numerous study and tutoring rooms—all designed to help develop a spirit of collaboration and team-oriented focus.
The building design also reiterates UNT’s commitment to sustainability, which was signified when the university became the first large public university in Texas to sign the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment in 2008. UNT is working with Polshek and Jacobs Engineering to make the building and the construction process as green as possible and plans for the building to achieve LEED Gold certification. The building will include a number of environmentally friendly spaces, including two green terraces and a green roof.
Natural light will filter through the roof and illuminate the central atrium of the building, which is located on the entry-level of the four-story building. The building will have more than 15,000 sf of classroom space fully-equipped with advanced technology, such as videoconferencing. The second floor will house graduate-level classrooms that will also serve as classrooms for executive education.
The top floor will house 149 faculty offices. In a departure from academic tradition, faculty will not be organized by department. The intermingling of faculty offices is designed to encourage more interdisciplinary research, a cornerstone of UNT’s academic tradition.
The building is being funded with $50 million in legislature-approved revenue bonds and $20 million from corporate and private donations. Construction is expected to begin in December 2009, and completion of the building is slated for June 2011.
