This past month, faculty and staff of the Volgenau School of Information Technology and Engineering moved into their new home at George Mason University. The new Academic VI / Research II Building, delivered through a public-private partnership arrangement between Edgemoor Infrastructure & Real Estate and the University, is now the largest academic building on the Fairfax campus. Since being awarded the project in January 2006, Edgemoor has provided turnkey real estate services including development management, planning, programming, end-user coordination, and permitting and has supported university efforts in fundraising, leasing, and public relations. Clark Construction provided design-build services, including construction, budgeting, design coordination, constructability reviews and scheduling for the project. The building was designed by Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum, Inc. The public-private partnership approach allowed the delivery team to overlap key project activities, including design, permits and approvals and construction, which expedited the schedule by more than two years. The building reached substantial completion in January of 2009, just 18 months after breaking ground. Positioned on a prominent site at the entrance to the University’s main campus, Academic VI / Research II contains 80,000 SF of academic space including classrooms and faculty offices, and 80,000 SF of research space. Additionally, 20,000 SF of private leased space has been provided in order to create an environment for collaborative research between the University and the private sector. Academic VI/Research II is the first building on campus to seek LEED Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, supporting George Mason University’s new green initiatives.
