Bridging the Gap Between Business & Engineering
A new bridge connecting the two buildings signifies an emphasis on collaboration between the Colleges
What started as a project for a 200-seat auditorium, evolved into a $45 million expansion to integrate two top ranked and globally recognized programs: Leeds School of Business and the College of Engineering and Applied Science (CEAS).
The «Ƶ has transformed the physical and learning landscapes of the Koelbel Building and Engineering Center to connect with one another. The 45,000 square foot connection between the buildings provides students and faculty with a functional, creative space to foster cross-disciplinary collaboration and innovation.
Associate Dean for Programs and Projects and Chief Financial Officer, Doug Smith, has been involved in the expansion since its inception. “[The expansion] is such a wonderful example of how colleges can work together to a common goal,” Smith said.
Smith works to improve CEAS through the development and leadership of student and faculty programs to support college growth. For the past five years, Smith has advised CEAS on buildings and infrastructure.
The Colleges’ goal was to create more space for CU’s rapidly growing student and faculty population. The expansion began with the need for a 200-seat auditorium, and Smith was thinking of innovative ways to administer the new construction. Smith and his team worked with campus planners to find an adequate location for the auditorium.
“We first thought it could go into the south courtyard of the EC [Engineering Center], but it became too expensive,” Smith said. “We later worked with campus planners to see if we could locate it adjacent to the Koelbel building. As we were working on a co-location with Leeds the new Dean of the Leeds school, Sharon Matusik, joined with us to expand the business school and create more classrooms, offices and create a connection for the buildings.”
The engineering and business partnership launched in spring 2017 and by spring 2019 the construction of the expansion began. During this time period, the colleges evaluated costs and schematic design to determine the connection’s structure and sources for funding.
COVID-19 caused a few challenges on the construction site. Social distancing was implemented and construction teams were spaced out and were working in smaller groups. However, the lack of students and faculty on campus allowed for more flexibility. “We were able to do things that we would have not been able to do if we had people around all that time. COVID did slow us down, but on the other hand not having people helped us finish pretty close on time,” Smith said.
Final renovations will be completed by mid-December and the entire expansion is projected to be accessible for students and staff in January 2021.
Fundraising was a joint venture between the Colleges and Assistant Dean for Advancement, Trisha Mckean, coordinated resources within Leeds. “The Leeds school had specific classroom needs, common space needs and growth in our faculty...these are the Leed’s school needs. These are the College of Engineering and Applied Science needs. If we do it together, can we fundraise for it? Can we do it?,” Mckean said.
The expansion was fully funded by generous donors and alumni who wanted to support the opportunity. Mckean worked with Dan and Cindy Caruso, Founders of The Caruso Foundation. Dan Caruso is also the CEO of «Ƶ-based Zayo Group Holdings. They gave $1 million and conducted a dollar matching initiative, amounting to $1.2 million.
Mckean said, “Dan and Cindy have always promoted cross campus collaboration...They had cited this space that connected the two schools, which they named the Caruso Connection.”
Anderson Mason Dale Architects, the architect for the project, proposed to connect the schools. According to Smith, the firm had a vision to create a, “Ponte Vecchio of engineering and business.” The Ponte Vecchio is a bridge in Florence, Italy that connects and makes possible business from various sectors across the Arno River. The Ponte Vecchio serves as an inspiration for the firm and symbolic representation of the Colleges’ objectives.
The connection is just one of the many new spaces the expansion includes. What used to be a backdoor to enter west of the Koelbel building is now a grand entrance to the new Rustandy building. Smith said, “This entry [Olson Atrium] is going to be a big, open hall with places for students to congregate. There’s going to be a big video board with the ticker tape so that business students can feel like they’re on Wall Street, seeing what’s going on.”
The Innovation and Entrepreneurship Hub is on the first floor of the Rustandy Building. The hub has collaboration rooms on the periphery and a coffee stand, called the Caruso Innovation Hub Cafe. Also, according to Smith, “There is a big cafe in their [Kolbel] entrepreneurship area, which used to be right next to their library.”
Moving through the hub, there are stairs that lead to the Anschutz multipurpose event space, which will host classes and events. Next to the multipurpose space, is the Caruso Connection. On the other side of the connection is the 200-seat auditorium, which sits on top of the newly renovated computer science wing.
ECCR’s space, on the first floor, has been completely reconstructed. The space has large windows that let light into the various study spaces and offices. On the second level of ECCR, down the hall from ECCR 200, a wall was demolished to create a spacious entry that leads into a prefuctionary area just outside the auditorium.
Behind the temporary wall that divides the south cafe in the engineering center is the new entrepreneurship space. This area used to be an exit out of the Engineering Center, but now it’s an enclosed space with high ceilings and floor-to-ceiling windows. In this space, there will be a help desk with student ambassadors and workers.
The entirety of the expansion is designed to facilitate productive collisions, collaboration and innovation. “Being able to have a community member or mentor come and have a cup of coffee with a student group or individual, but then having an engineering professor maybe join in on the conversation creates this serendipitous momentum that is created by these spaces,” Mckean said.
“As a guy who spent 50 years in my professional career as an engineer, I spent most of my time running a business,” Smith said. “I really see a lot of synergy between our colleges. For me the greatest outcome would be for us to work more closely together so that our students that graduate actually understand both sides of the world.”
Rapid growth in the Colleges produced the need for space, and rapid changes in industries have created the need for cross-disciplinary collaboration. The expansion solved the lack of space, but it has also established an environment where engineering and business can physically and programmatically connect.
“By bringing together different disciplines, we can look at problems differently and more effectively,” Mckean said. “That’s the hope that we’re bringing solutions to the marketplace and the world for the betterment of society.”
Photo: Associate Dean Doug Smith standing in front of the expansion by Elliot Whitehead.