Major Step in Campus Transformation Enters Final Stretch

The third Jindal School building on the south side of campus adds 132,000 square feet of space for undergraduate and executive education and for business communications programs, as well as for a new artificial intelligence lab and the dean's offices. A second campus Starbucks also will be located there.

"The building will be a gathering place for students, alumni and companies to come together," said Dr. Hasan Pirkul, Jindal School dean and the Caruth Chair.

The building features studio classrooms for remote teaching and a 40-seat boardroom for small and midsize companies to use.

"We don't have a place like that currently on campus, and my idea is that we open it up to companies to host their board meetings," Pirkul said. "Dallas is a huge metroplex with many headquarters and midsize companies that would have a need for this. It will be a good way to build relationships with industry as well as nonprofits."

Even with the building occupied and classes underway, work will continue on the exterior. A grand opening celebration is planned for later this year.

Nearby, the second phase of the O'Donnell Athenaeum will feature a 66,900-square-foot music building and a roughly 680-seat performance hall with rehearsal rooms, a recording studio, classrooms, offices and a music library.

"The performance space is going to be really special," Martín said. "The space feels intimate - like you're in a black-box theater."

Dr. Nils Roemer, dean of the Harry W. Bass Jr. School of the Arts, Humanities, and Technology, said the new music and performance building will become a hub of creativity and connection on campus.

"Interconnectedness is at the heart of its design," said Roemer, who also is the Arts, Humanities, and Technology Distinguished University Chair and the Stan and Barbara Rabin Distinguished Professor in Holocaust Studies. "This remarkable landmark is for our students. We want them to move effortlessly between classes and performances. The architectural vision brings together education, music, performance and culture to create spaces that will enhance the student experience and amplify ways to engage campus visitors and the broader Dallas-area community."

The Student Success Center/Student Union will not only be the largest building on campus at 360,000 square feet, but it will be three times the size of the current Student Union, which was built in 1981.

"As the University embarks upon Roadmap 2030, the student experience is an important pillar to the success of the University, and a facility such as this will serve as an anchor point on campus to showcase the best of what the University and its partners can offer on a daily basis," said Dr. Amanda Smith, interim vice president for student affairs and dean of students.

The Student Success Center/Student Union will house the Office of Undergraduate Education, the Student Success Center, the Hobson Wildenthal Honors College, the Office of Graduate Education, the Center for Teaching and Learning, Educational Technology Services and the Comet Cupboard. The Student Organization Center, Student Government, Comet Spirit Programs, Fraternity and Sorority Life, the Student Wellness Center and the Office of Student Volunteerism also will move into the new building.

The student memorial will be moved to a new spot outside the building next to the Eugene McDermott Library.

Though the building doesn't open until next year, walkways surrounding the site will reopen after nearly three years of being fenced off.

The building will feature:

• A 14,000-square-foot ballroom, the largest event space on campus.
• Sensory lounge for students.
• An outdoor amphitheater.
• Group study rooms.
• A dance rehearsal facility.
• Seven meeting rooms.
• A 3,500-square-foot Creativity Lab for students that will have an area for 3D printing.
• A basement with ping-pong tables, billiards and tabletop gaming, and study spaces.
• A lecture-in-the-round area that seats 400 students.
• A dining area that will seat about 700 people.