The Six Must-Haves of a New Business Building

In the current edition of BizEd Magazine, the main trade journal for business schools, there is an article entitled What to Build When You’re Building. In this article, the magazine identifies six must-have elements of new business school buildings. I thought I might report on how well we do with those six must-haves:

Technology Lab

1) A variety of (classroom) floor plans. Check! We have both flat and tiered classrooms, with two different sizes of tiered classrooms, and three different sizes of flat classrooms.

2) Room to experiment. Check! With a Finance Lab, two additional computer technology labs, a research-focused Behavior Lab, and an Innovation Lab in our new Clark Center for Entrepreneurship, we have labs.

3) Spaces large and small. Check! We have the wonderful event space as our largest, new space. We have 21 new student project team rooms, and five new conference rooms, for small space. In between, we have three student lounge areas, the courtyard, the terrace, the cafeteria, and other great spaces to meet and work.

4) Top-tier technology. Check! Our architects put together a wonderful rendering of our technology lab which shows what our lab should look like. Plus, all of our classrooms will be outfitted with the latest and greatest proven technologies. No, we are not on the bleeding edge, but, yes, we are on the leading edge.

5) Green grandeur. Check! This is all about LEED. Frankly, we have to be – it’s state law. And we’re building a state-owned building.

Aeriel view of the courtyard

6) Tailor-made features. Check! Each region, campus and building space might have special characteristics which can be expressed through a high-quality business building. As I read this section, two things came to mind: (1) The wonderful views we will have of the south end of Cache Valley from the new event space. This will be high-value, “beach-front” property. And, (2) I thought of our courtyard. By fire code, we have to have 24 feet of separation between the two buildings. We are turning 24 feet of separation into a great asset. Tailor-made!

All in all, based on the BizEd criteria, we’ve nailed it.

Ken Snyder