CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.—The University of Virginia, founded by Thomas Jefferson, is taking yet another step into the future thanks to its 21st century School of Data Science. The new educational building broke ground this fall, with a projected opening for early in 2024.

In late October, dignitaries of the University of Virginia were on hand for a groundbreaking ceremony, and turned over the token first shovelfuls of dirt for the 14-acre plot that will one day host the data science center. The 60,000-square-foot project also entails a new performing arts center and other educational buildings.

Across four stories of educational space at the data center, students will learn about technology with state-of-the-art “active learning” classrooms, where they will converse and learn about “big data,” which has become ever more important across all disciplines. Data science utilizes scientific methods, algorithms and other techniques of inquiry to glean information from the large picture big data has to offer.

Other areas that needed to be constructed included faculty areas and meeting and research spaces. The new building will also have “porches” that extend out over a pond adjacent to the data center, which will allow students to congregate outdoors as the weather allows.

Further work entails constructing a new hotel adjacent to the school building, a parking garage as well as a conference center on the plot of land, which is dubbed the Emmet-Ivy parcel.

The design team for the project entails architectural firm VMDO, the executive architect and architect of record, design architect Hopkins and ​​general contractor Gilbane Building Company. According to the university, Merrill and Jaffary Woodriff of Charlottesville’s Quantitative Foundation donated $120 million to the new school, making it the largest such gift in the school’s history. The data center requires $33 million of that sum for its construction.

“From an academic perspective, there is an explosive interest in Data Science courses at UVA; it is predicted that the majority of students will take at least one data science course during their time at UVA,” Lauren Shirley, an associate with VMDO Architects, said in a statement emailed to School Construction News. “Currently the School is operating out of a very small space and they are growing rapidly. This new building will provide much-needed teaching, research, and office space for the School, as well as providing a home for Data Science students, and a representation of the School’s identity.”

Continued Shirley: “This building will also set an architectural precedent for the school’s new Emmet-Ivy Corridor. This building’s design strikes the right balance of current and contextual, something that was important to all involved. It is modern in its lightness and transparency, minimal in its detailing and structural expression, while still fitting in with its more classical campus context.”

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FARMVILLE, Va.—Virginia’s rapidly growing Longwood University has just unveiled a major revamp of an iconic residence hall, representing the first step in implementing a new master-planning effort led by the architects and campus planners at Cooper Robertson.

The newly re-opened dormitory building, Frazer Hall, is one of a pair of formerly drab midcentury structures right at the front door of Longwood’s campus, where it meets the main street of surrounding Farmville. The second building, Curry Hall, is now starting the carefully phased renovation process, which also includes landscaping and redesigned streetscapes that better tie the University to the community around it. New facades feature wider windows and more contextual brickwork. Interiors are redesigned to allow for additional space and a greater number of students — an important consideration for a school whose population is anticipated to grow 30% in the next five years.

“Updating Curry Hall and Frazer Hall is a key step in the implementation of the master plan, and one the University identified as an early priority while we worked together to develop a long-range vision,” said Cooper Robertson partner John Kirk, AIA. “The primary goal is to better weave the existing campus together and connect it to the surrounding Farmville community. These two buildings are visible from everywhere in town, and the renovation offers an opportunity create a more welcoming and contextual presence at the University’s front door by forming handsome icons on the local skyline.”

Cooper Robertson is also shepherding the design team for the building projects, which includes the firms VMDO, Little Diversified and Franck & Lohsen.

The residential building upgrades are just the beginning of a series of bold moves proposed in Cooper Robertson’s master plan, called “Place Matters.” Adding new campus activities and furthering the campus-town connection, the school’s baseball and softball stadiums will be relocated to downtown Farmville, with all field sports to be consolidated at the south campus. Building on the university’s existing character, a new, garden-like pedestrian connection to the Moton Museum will be installed along with a Performing Arts Center and a multi-purpose hall.

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