Ross School of Business, University of Michigan
Architect: Kohn Pedersen Fox
Client: University of Michigan
Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan
Completion: Fall 2016

Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF) completed its first project for the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business in 2009, replacing four aging buildings with a 280,000-square-foot hub for education and student life. Now the plan is designing a follow-up project that combines renovation work and a major new academic building.

The new project includes 104,000 square feet of space organized around a three-story-high atrium overlooking a central courtyard on the Ann Arbor campus. The project will add flexible classrooms, study space, and faculty offices. KPF will also renovate 75,000 square feet of the Kresge Business Administration Library.

The $135 million renovation and addition comes five years after the University of Michigan Board of Regents approved the previous KPF project, which cost $145 million. Stephen Ross, the school’s namesake, is putting $100 million toward the current project. The real estate magnate kicked in the same amount for the previous project.

KPF said the design will create a unified appearance for the business school’s growing campus, linking all three buildings with a nearby executive residence and encircling a central courtyard area. Initial renderings of the new building show street-level masonry switching to a striated, rust-colored facade punctuated with glass boxes.