MAY 2007
Room to Breathe At New Knight Campus
Moving trucks won’t arrive for a few more years, but planning for a new campus for the School has proceeded to the selection of an architect. The Knight Management Center—named for Philip H. Knight, MBA ’62, founder and chairman of Nike Inc., whose leadership gift kicked off the project—will be located at the corner of Campus Drive and Serra Street, across from the Schwab Residential Center.
One important impetus for the new campus is the very different classroom configurations needed to support the new MBA curriculum that will be introduced this fall. The current GSB South building was dedicated in 1966, when most classes were lectures and case discussions taught in traditional tiered rooms. The new curriculum requires more seminar rooms, team-oriented spaces, smaller breakout spaces, and flexible classrooms that can be reconfigured if needs change. Current plans call for less crowded classrooms by allowing 50 percent more space per student than in the existing buildings.
The new campus will total 340,000 square feet (about 80,000 square feet bigger than the current space), all housed in environmentally friendly structures that minimize water and energy use. The existing Littlefield Management Center, dedicated in 1988, and the newer Knight Building, both primarily office buildings, and GSB South will be turned over to the University.
In December, the School chose Bohlin Cywinski Jackson to design the new campus. Founded in 1965, the bicoastal firm was recognized last year by the American Institute of Architects for one of the top 10 green buildings in the United States. Groundbreaking for the Business School is slated for 2008, with completion planned for academic year 2010–11.
For more information see FAQs about the new campus.