The Indiana University Board of Trustees approved a new four-story, 125,000-square-foot building for the School of Informatics and Computing at their April meeting.
The project will bring together many facets of the School, including programs in computer science and information and library sciences, in a shared environment. The School is currently housed in three main buildings across campus and 10 satellite locations on campus.
Collaboration, community, entrepreneurship, and innovation are key themes that will characterize the building. The facility will include an auditorium and many classrooms, an innovation and entrepreneurship center, a fabrication laboratory, a community center, and a series of team and meeting spaces. It also will house faculty offices, research groups and laboratories, career services, and both undergraduate and graduate student services. A first floor café will provide a social hub.
The new facility will have a distinctive blend of limestone cladding and an abundance of windows–including an atrium–to bring in natural light.
“Some buildings are meant to provide space, while others set the tone for an organization. Our new building is designed to do the latter,” said Dean of the School of Informatics and Computing Bobby Schnabel. “This building will be transformative for the School of Informatics and Computing. It will enhance how people collaborate and work and will enrich the culture of innovation at IU and in Bloomington.”
Two notable firms—Indianapolis-based RATIO Architects and their national partner, Pelli Clarke Pelli have been selected to design this statement building.
The building will be constructed at the northeast corner of Cottage Grove and Woodlawn avenues, one block north of the School’s current headquarters, and will be the inaugural element of IU’s new north Woodlawn corridor. The estimated $39.8 million project will be funded through school funds, research funds, and private gifts. The building will be completed in late 2017.