Hall opened this semester, replacing Blow Memorial Hall and Tyler Hall as the homes of the College of William and Mary’s Mason School of Business.
Located on the corner of Ukrop Dr. and Jamestown Rd., the 166,000-square-foot-building was completed this June.
“We still have some finishing touches — carpets, furniture and artwork arriving — but the building is definitely in use right now for classes,” Andrea Sardone, executive director of marketing communications for the business school, said. “There are a number of places you can just sit and hang out and talk to each other.
There are a lot of study rooms, common lounges, undergrad and grad lounges; it’s all a public place.”
The building features tier-based lecture halls and cluster classrooms, as well as the Boehly Café, located on the first floor. There is also a grill that offers breakfast, lunch and dinner.
The hall also anticipates receiving a Silver Certification in Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design from the U.S. Green Building Council in the fall. The LEED is awarded to select buildings that have taken green measures to ensure that they are eco-friendly. Other LEED buildings on campus include the Jamestown dormitories and the Integrated Science Center.
All lights in Miller have motion sensors, which are projected to save the College between 10-20 percent in energy costs. The hall also has an underground cistern in the courtyard that collects rainwater to irrigate the landscape.
“The building itself is brick on the outside, and there’s a concrete block envelope right inside of it to help with insulation. [These measures] may be a pretty high cost up front, but it’s going to save us a lot of money down the line,” Sardone said.
Construction began in March 2007. $75 million from both private and College sources were used to fund the project, $50 million of which came directly from private funds.
Among the benefactors is donor and CEO of Universal Health Services, Inc., Alan B. Miller, for whom the
building was named.
“[Miller] has had a relationship with the College since he left here,” Sardone said. “He’s a great friend of the business school and a great friend of the College.”
Sardone also discussed the College’s reasons for undertaking the new construction.
“One of the intentions throughout the whole project was to build a building that created a real sense of community for the students and the school, but also as a place for the rest of the campus to feel that they were welcomed as well. I think that’s probably one of the hallmarks of William and Mary period — a sense of community.”