The University of Virginia’s Board of Visitors’ Buildings and Grounds Committee on Thursday reviewed the schematic design of the School of Data Science Entrepreneurship Building, proposed for the Emmet-Ivy Corridor.
The board initially approved the project, immediately west of the School of Data Science, in June. The design extends the program of the existing building into the new project, with a ground-floor courtyard and an upper-level bridge connecting the two.
The site’s location “will enable broad, collaborative research and entrepreneurial endeavors both within the school and across the Grounds,” Alice Raucher, the architect for the University, said.
The building will be a five-story structure with classroom, research and seminar spaces, and it draws on the design of the surrounding structures.
The Fontaine Research Data Center will begin with four megawatts of computing capacity, with the ability to grow to 16 megawatts to support future buildings at Fontaine and provide world-class research opportunities for the University. (Image by Gensler architect and design firm)
“All the buildings on the Emmet-Ivy Corridor have been designed with a transparent, welcoming ground floor to connect interior public spaces with the exterior pedestrian promenade to create a safe, active district,” Raucher said.
In other business, the board approved the schematic design for the Fontaine Research Data Center at the Fontaine Research Park. The board approved the master plan for the Fontaine Research Park in 2018 and, since then, has approved plans for the Paul and Diane Manning Institute of Biotechnology, a parking garage, improvements to the roadway infrastructure, and the Central Energy Plant.
When first proposed, the Fontaine Research Data Center was a two-story computing facility for the University’s academic side. Raucher said that since then, the UVA Health University Medical Center has decided to locate its data center in the building as well, adding a floor.
The Fontaine Research Data Center will be located next to the “zero-combustion” Central Energy Plant.
