Across the country, many colleges and universities are expanding and upgrading their campuses. As demand for certain careers change, and technology continues to develop at lightning speed, the space on many campuses needs to be reimagined.
“Ultimately, higher education construction is about attracting and serving students,” said Kurt Mollet, PARIC’s academic project executive. “School stakeholders want to create rich and valuable learning experiences. We’ve noticed a few themes emerge that are relevant across the board, even as each project requires a customized solution.”
PARIC Corporation, a general contractor based in St. Louis, has worked with several colleges and universities on construction projects and in the past 20 years, it has built more than 5 million square feet of higher education spaces.
In addition to preparing students for high demand careers, schools are also interested in creating interdisciplinary space for multiple functions. Another increasing trend is recreational space outside the classroom including student centers, athletic facilities, and other shared spaces. Most academic projects are being built with sustainable processes and materials and many of PARIC’s academic projects are LEED-certified. “Most of our higher education customers are interested in getting the most out of these buildings – long life cycles, lower energy costs and lower maintenance costs,” said Mollet.
View the full article via the St. Louis Business Journal here.