The Board of Visitors recently approved a $5 million addition to Campbell Hall, home of the University's Architecture School, which primarily will be used to add office space for 36 faculty members.
The four-story addition was approved to correct deficiencies in the amount of office and teaching space in the Architecture School, University spokeswoman Louise Dudley said.
In early 2000, the National Architectural Accrediting Board and the Landscape Architectural Accrediting Board gave the Architecture School warning citations for insufficient office space.
The NAAB asked the University in 2000 to address the problem of insufficient office space at the school, but did not require an increase for accreditation.
Thomas F. Farrell Jr., chair of the Board's Buildings and Grounds Committee, said Architecture School Dean Karen Van Lengen recently brought the problem to the Board's attention.
Dudley said the addition will provide new office space for faculty members as well as offices for the dean, two conference rooms, a seminar and jury room for presentations and an expanded architecture workshop. The renovation also will include restoring the current interior and installing sprinkler systems.
Board member Terence P. Ross said the Board will approve each phase of the addition separately. Phase One, which the Board approved, adds to the southern exterior of Campbell Hall.
"The exterior of the addition will be composed of photovoltaic cells," Ross said.
Photovoltaic cells are an alternative, renewable source of energy, which derive energy from sunlight.
Ross said the cells will provide energy for demonstrations inside the building, which will serve as educational devices. One proposed idea is to have the cells power a fountain.
The funds for the renovation have not yet been raised, said Colette Sheehy, vice president for management and budget. The school plans to obtain funding from private gifts and donations.
Construction for the addition is scheduled to begin in spring 2004. But Dudley said that starting date is dependent upon sufficient funds being raised by that time.