Rice hall updates
September 2011: Rice Hall Update
Rice Hall is now 99 percent complete, according to a September 7 project report by U.Va. Facilities Management. Faculty offices and labs are occupied. Students are using the Design Laboratory, located on the first floor, where Introduction to Engineering classes are taught. They are also using study areas throughout the building.
Current construction activities include completion of the auditorium, boardroom and server room. Landscaping is in progress and on target for completion by the end of September.
The building dedication ceremony will be held on November 18.
August 2011: Rice Hall Update
Rice Hall Opens This Fall; Will Be State-of-the-Art Space for IT Engineering
U.Va. Today, August 5th, 2011
August 5, 2011 — Technology that could transform life as we know it and improve the human condition – that's the vision behind the University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science's new Rice Hall Information Technology Engineering Building. The building will open at the beginning of the fall semester for classes. Read More
July 2011: Rice Hall Update
 The fifth floor west lobby. |
 A typical fifth floor faculty office. |
Rice Hall is now 90 percent complete, according to a July 11 project report by U.Va. Facilities Management.
The building remains on schedule for completion in August 2011.
June 2011: Rice Hall Update
 Photos courtesy of U.Va. Facilities Management |
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Rice Hall is now 85 percent complete, according to a June 9 project report by U.Va. Facilities Management. Current activities include: multi-story curtain wall installation nearing completion; brick veneer nearing completion; exterior metal panel installation nearing completion; equipment startups in progress; wall, floor and ceiling finishes in progress on floors two through five; communications cabling in progress; light fixture installation underway; computer room flooring and underfloor power distribution nearing completion.
The building remains on schedule for completion in August 2011.
May 2011: Rice Hall Update
 Photos courtesy of U.Va. Facilities Management |
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Rice Hall is now 82 percent complete, according to a May 12 project report by U.Va. Facilities management. Current activities include: curtain wall installation at east and west elevations; finishing on all floors, trim out and insulation is underway on all floors; preparing for equipment startup; commissioning and controls integration meetings ongoing; wall, floor and ceiling finishes in progress on floors two through five; communications cabling in progress and light fixture installation is underway.
The building remains on schedule for completion in August 2011.April 2011: Rice Hall Update
Rice Hall is now 78 percent complete, according to an April 7 project report by U.Va. Facilities Management. Installation of the building’s brick veneer is nearly complete on the north, south and west sides. Installation of the brick veneer is in progress on the auditorium wing on the east side of the building and on the Olsson Hall Connector. Electrical systems throughout the building are now being tested.
March 2011: Rice Hall Update
 Photos courtesy of U.Va. Facilities Management The glass curtain wall on the west end of the building is near completion. |
 A view from the west staircase looking through the glass curtain wall to Scott Stadium. |
Rice Hall is now 74 percent complete, according to a March 4 project report by U.Va. Facilities Management. Current activities include installation of the glass curtain wall on the east and west ends of the building, and brick veneer installation on the building exterior is nearing completion. On the inside, a mock-up of one of the building’s research labs is being prepared for the architect’s review.
Future work will include completion of the building exterior envelope, including roofing and installation of brick veneer, metal wall panels and window systems. There will also be continued work on installation of the building's electrical and mechanical systems.
February 2011: Rice Hall Update
 Photos courtesy of U.Va. Facilities Management |
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Left (L to R): Paul Rice (EE ’75); Jo Ellen Parker, Sweet Briar College president, and James Aylor, dean of the Engineering School, toured the construction site on January 25. Right: Workers install gypsum wall board.
Construction on Rice Hall is now 70 percent complete, according to a February 4 project report issued by U.Va. Facilities Management. Recent activities include gypsum wall board installation and finishing and brick veneer installation on the building’s exterior.
January 2011: Rice Hall Update
 Photos courtesy of U.Va. Facilities Management |
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Construction on Rice Hall is now 67 percent complete, according to a January 3 project report issued by U.Va. Facilities Management. Recent activities include removal of the tower crane on Dec. 20 and the installation of windows.
December 2010: Rice Hall Update
 Photos by Jack Looney |
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Charlottesville-area photographer Jack Looney took aerial pictures of the Rice Hall Information Technology Engineering Building project in early December. Construction is now 59 percent complete, according to a report issued Dec. 3 by U.Va. Facilities Management.
November 2010: Rice Hall Update
 Photos courtesy of U.Va. Facilities Management |
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Construction on the Rice Hall Information Technology Engineering building is now 55 percent complete, according to a report issued Nov. 5 by U.Va. Facilities Management. Recent activities include the installation of the building’s electrical switchgear (pictured above on the left) and framing of the building’s auditorium (pictured above on the right).
October 2010: Rice Hall Update
 Photos by Zak Richards A view of the Engineering School complex from the sixth floor or Rice Hall. |
 The tour group listens to Craig Hilten, a senior project manager for U.Va. Facilities Management, explain features of Rice Hall. |
On Oct. 2, members of the SEAS Trustees, along with current students and alumni, went on a hard-hat tour of Rice Hall. The building is now 46 percent complete.
September 2010: Rice Hall Update
 Photos courtesy of U.Va. Facilities Management |
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Construction on the Rice Hall Information Technology Engineering building is now 44 percent complete, according to a report issued Sept. 7 by U.Va. Facilities Management.
August 2010: Rice Hall Update
 Photos by Dan Grogan |
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Earlier this summer Charlottesville-area photographer Dan Grogan took aerial pictures of the Rice Hall-Information Technology Engineering Building project. Construction is now 39 percent complete, according to a report issued August 2 by U.Va. Facilities Management.
July 2010: Rice Hall Update
 Photos courtesy of U.Va. Facilities Management |
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Rice Hall is now 32 percent complete and remains on schedule for completion in August 2011, according to a construction report issued on July 2. Currently, the elevators have been set and shaft construction is in progress. Construction of the interior partitions on the lower floors is under way. Concrete walls are now being built around each side of the building’s steel frame.
June 2010: Rice Hall Update
Construction is now 32 percent complete and the building remains on schedule for completion in August 2011. Current activities include completion of the foundation backfill, waterproofing and installation of foundation drain piping. Mechanical, electrical and plumbing work has begun in the basement and first floor and utility connections at Whitehead Road (sanitary sewer, fire service and domestic water) are complete. The building’s windows will be delivered this month.
May 2010: Rice Hall Update
 Photos by Zak Richards |
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Left: U.Va. Engineering students gathered at the construction site of the Rice Hall Information Technology Engineering Building on May 13 to sign a steel beam that was placed by trade workers in a “topping out” ceremony on May 14. Right: Jennifer Wilson (BME ’10), president of the Engineering Student Council organized a group of students to sign the beam.
April 2010: Rice Hall Update
March 2010: Rice Hall Update
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February 2010: Rice Hall Update
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Construction on Rice Hall is now more than 22 percent complete, and the connector to Olsson Hall is scheduled to be completed by early March. Steel fabrication is complete through the fourth floor, and steel erection has progressed to the second floor with a targeted top-out in May.
January 2010: Rice Hall Update
How Rice Hall Can Help Trim Energy Consumption by Buildings
By Zak Richards
Buildings such as the one you may be working in now or the home you will sleep in this evening account for 40 percent of the United States’ energy consumption. With lights ablaze and heating and cooling systems running around the clock, it’s easy to see how the usage adds up.
The University of Virginia Engineering School’s Rice Hall Information Technology Engineering Building, which will open in the fall of 2011, will facilitate the type of research that can help reduce energy consumption from the operation of buildings. With sophisticated technologies for heating, cooling and lighting, and including energy recovery systems, Rice Hall will function as a Living Laboratory on energy use.
When Rice Hall opens, students and faculty who are going about their daily routines in the building will help Living Lab researchers learn how to optimize the latest energy technologies for large buildings. The building’s powerful instrumentation systems will be able to collect data that demonstrate not only superior technologies, but also how to optimize their use. The research also could inform behaviors such as closing doors or powering down equipment to help reduce energy consumption.
“Thanks to the generosity of Paul and Gina Rice, who provided the main funding for the building, Rice Hall stands to transform the way the University community works together to learn about and improve energy use and consumption,” said James H. Aylor, dean of the Engineering School.
To read more, CLICK HERE.
December 2009: Rice Hall Update
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With construction more than 19 percent complete, the foundation walls for Rice Hall are now in place. The building’s structural steel has been fabricated and is now ready to ship to the project site. The steel erection project should begin soon and the building remains on target for a top-out in April 2010 and full completion by August 2011.
November 2009: Rice Hall Update
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Construction on Rice Hall is now 17 percent complete with an expected completion date of August 2011. Crews are now constructing the building’s foundation and should be completed with that part of the project in early December. The building’s steel frame should begin to rise soon after and top-out in April 2010.
August 2009: Rice Hall Update
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July 2009: Rice Hall Update
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Early in July, the restoration from installation of underground utilities was nearing completion at Stadium and Whitehead Roads. Also, a wooden wall with lighting has been erected along the perimeter of the construction site to minimize the disturbance of the project on the neighborhood and normal operations at the Engineering School. |
What was recently an enormous empty hole behind Olsson Hall is now occupied by equipment that will be used to construct Rice Hall’s foundation. Work on this phase of the construction will take place in late July or early August and require use of a tower crane. A foundation for the tower crane has been set and once the crane is in use, Rice Hall’s six stories will begin to rise from the building's foundation. The tower crane will be used to install the structural steel frame and portions of the building's exterior skin.
June 2009: Rice Hall Update
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As of June 2, a construction update from U.Va. Facilities Management indicates that construction is 10 percent complete with an expected building occupancy date of May 2011. With shoring and excavation of the site complete, the site is now ready to receive the building’s foundations. |
If you’ve walked behind the U.Va. Engineering School on Whitehead Rd. in the last few weeks, you’ve probably noticed a massive hole that will eventually hold the six-story Rice Hall- Information Technology and Engineering building.
May 2009: Rice Hall Update
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Speeches by U.Va. President John Casteen III; Meredith Jung-En Woo, dean of the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences; James H. Aylor, dean of the Engineering School and Paul Rice (EE ’75), a major donor for the new ITE building, highlighted how the new buildings would help to advance the sciences at U.Va., offering to researchers and students alike cutting-edge facilities that foster collaboration. |
With the sounds of construction in the background, more than a hundred members of the University of Virginia community gathered on a sunny afternoon in mid-April to celebrate the groundbreaking for the Engineering School’s future Rice Hall- Information Technology Engineering (ITE) Building and also the Physical Life Sciences Building for the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences.
April 2009: Rice Hall Update
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The University of Virginia will hold a joint groundbreaking celebration on April 17 at 3 p.m. for two buildings that will serve as an engineering and science gateway to the University and support faculty and student research. |