JWU Reveals Plans for New Bio + Tech Building

PBN.com and the Providence Journal have revealed JWU’s plans to build a $40M academic building on land opened up by the redevelopment of I-195.

The 60,000-square-foot building will serve as home to JWU’s College of Engineering & Design and the College of Arts & Science’s new biology program.

Construction on the building at the corner of Friendship and Chestnut streets in Providence is set to begin in April 2015, making it the first announced facility to be built on the land that became available with the realignment of Interstate 195.

The building will house:

• Alan Shawn Feinstein Technology & Design Center
• Biology labs that support physics, chemistry, organic chemistry and microbiology
• Faculty offices
• Outdoor courtyard designed to support collaborative learning

Next Phase in JWU’s Transformation
JWU Chancellor John J. Bowen called the new academic building an affirmation of JWU’s “commitment to Providence and Rhode Island, and to providing the best education possible for students from across the globe.”

He continued: “Today’s world demands that we not only provide the most technologically advanced learning environment, but one that also allows for the integration of disciplines, the freedom to create and innovate, and the kinds of collaborations that are the norm in virtually every industry.

“With construction of this new academic building, we will continue to address that mandate, serving the ambitions of our students and faculty as well as the needs of the larger community in which we reside.”

The building is scheduled to be completed in July 2016, in time for the start of JWU’s 2016-17 academic year.

About the Building

• 60,000-square-feet + 3 stories
• Designed to meet LEED (Leadership in Energy + Environmental Design) certification
• Architects: Edward Rowse Architects (Providence, RI) and Architectural Resources Cambridge (Cambridge, Mass.)
• LEED Consultant: Thorton Tomasetti (Boston, Mass.)