Umass Amherst’s new 70,000-sf Business Innovation Hub combines a new expansion with the partial renovation of the Isenberg School of Management. Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) designed the building with Goody Clancy as the architect of Record.
The building doubles the school’s current space and introduces new facilities for more than 150 staff and 5,000 students in undergraduate, master’s, and PhD programs. The exterior is wrapped in straight, vertical pillars that gradually slope downward, creating a domino effect and a triangular glass entrance. The exterior’s copper cladding will naturally weather from a dark ochre to a patina with long-term exposure to the elements.
Photo: Laurian Ghinitoiu.
Students and faculty will enter into the naturally-lit, 5,000-sf Learning Commons. This will be a place for learning, networking, and dining. The Learning Commons can also double as a venue for guest speakers, ceremonies, banquets, and career fairs.
See Also: 17-story Data Sciences building to rise on Boston University campus
The Business Innovation Hub extends directly into the existing 1964 building from the north and east sides in a wide circular loop. The loop consolidates Isenberg’s faculty and staff under one roof and creates a circular place of arrival. Various conference rooms and breakout areas are distributed throughout the loop.
Photo: Laurian Ghinitoiu.
“The new Business Innovation Hub at the Isenberg School of Management is conceived as an extension of both the building and the campus mall,” said Bjarke Ingels, Founder and Creative Director, BIG, in a release. “The linear structure is bent to form a full loop framing an internal courtyard for the life of the students. The façade is pulled away in a domino effect to create a generous invitation from the Haigis Mall to the Learning Commons. The mall and the courtyard – inside and outside form a forum for the students, the faculty and the profession to meet, mingle and mix society and academia.”
Photo: Laurian Ghinitoiu.
Innovation labs, advising spaces, and faculty offices are located on the second and third floors. Classrooms are equipped with integrated technology for distance learning and can be easily transformed for theater-style lectures or small group work.
The inner spaces of the extension face a circular courtyard that connects back to the campus via two pathways between the original Isenberg building and the Business Innovation Hub. Two bridges above these paths fuse the buildings.
Photo: Max Touhey.
Photo: Laurian Ghinitoiu.
Photo: Max Touhey.
Photo: Laurian Ghinitoiu.
Photo: Laurian Ghinitoiu.
Related Stories
Higher Education | Sep 18, 2024
Modernizing dental schools: The intersection of design and education
Page's John Smith and Jennifer Amster share the how firm's approach to dental education facilities builds on the success of evidence-based design techniques pioneered in the healthcare built environment.
Libraries | Sep 12, 2024
How space supports programming changes at university libraries
GBBN Associate Sarah Kusuma Rubritz, AIA, uses the University of Pittsburgh's Hillman Library to showcase how libraries are transforming to support students’ needs.
University Buildings | Sep 4, 2024
UC San Diego’s new Multidisciplinary Life Sciences Building will support research and teaching in both health and biological sciences
The University of California San Diego has approved plans for a new Multidisciplinary Life Sciences Building, with construction starting this fall. The 200,000-sf, six-level facility will be the first building on the UC San Diego campus to bridge health science research with biological science research and teaching.
University Buildings | Aug 12, 2024
Planning for growing computer science programs
Driven by emerging AI developments and digital transformation in the business world, university computer science programs are projected to grow by nearly 15% by 2030.
Education Facilities | Aug 4, 2024
A former supersonic wind tunnel becomes a new educational facility for transportation design
The Mullin Transportation Design Center at ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, Calif., provides access for full-scale vehicular models, replicating a professional design studio.
University Buildings | Aug 1, 2024
UC Riverside’s student health center provides an environment on par with major medical centers
The University of California, Riverside's new Student Health and Counseling Center (SHCC) provides a holistic approach to wellness for students throughout the UC Riverside campus. Designed by HGA and delivered through a design-build partnership with Turner Construction Company, SHCC provides healthcare offerings in an environment on par with major medical centers.
Student Housing | Jul 31, 2024
The University of Michigan addresses a decades-long student housing shortage with a new housing-dining facility
The University of Michigan has faced a decades-long shortage of on-campus student housing. In a couple of years, the situation should significantly improve with the addition of a new residential community on Central Campus in Ann Arbor, Mich. The University of Michigan has engaged American Campus Communities in a public-private partnership to lead the development of the environmentally sustainable living-learning student community.
Adaptive Reuse | Jul 30, 2024
Empty mall to be converted to UCLA Research Park
UCLA recently acquired a former mall that it will convert into the UCLA Research Park that will house the California Institute for Immunology and Immunotherapy at UCLA and the UCLA Center for Quantum Science and Engineering, as well as programs across other disciplines. The 700,000-sf property, formerly the Westside Pavilion shopping mall, is two miles from the university’s main Westwood campus. Google, which previously leased part of the property, helped enable and support UCLA’s acquisition.
Smart Buildings | Jul 25, 2024
A Swiss startup devises an intelligent photovoltaic façade that tracks and moves with the sun
Zurich Soft Robotics says Solskin can reduce building energy consumption by up to 80% while producing up to 40% more electricity than comparable façade systems.
Great Solutions | Jul 23, 2024
41 Great Solutions for architects, engineers, and contractors
AI ChatBots, ambient computing, floating MRIs, low-carbon cement, sunshine on demand, next-generation top-down construction. These and 35 other innovations make up our 2024 Great Solutions Report, which highlights fresh ideas and innovations from leading architecture, engineering, and construction firms.
