On March 26, the Whiting-Turner Contracting Company will receive Craftsmanship Awards for its work on the Rafik B. Hariri Building from the Washington Building Congress.
In addition to the Craftsmanship Awards it won last year for work completed in 2008, the Rafik B. Hariri Building “will receive awards for its ornamental and glass railing work in the Simone McDonough Atrium and Lohrfink Auditorium by Tate Ornamental; the woodwork in the atrium, auditorium and case rooms completed by Fetzer Architectural Woodwork; the terrazzo floor and steps in the atrium completed by David Allen; and the painting and wall-covering work throughout the building completed by Precision Wall Tech,” according to a press release on the McDonough School of Business’s Web site.
The Washington Building Congress, a commercial trade association that has been holding its Craftsmanship Awards annually since 1950, is not alone in recognizing the new building’s merit. Many members of the Georgetown community appreciate its innovative design and use of space.
Patricia Fairfield, associate professor in the MSB, said she enjoys the new variety of classrooms and study spaces, which includes 15 classrooms, 34 breakout rooms, 15 conference rooms, 11 interview rooms, a 400-seat auditorium, two large lounges and 120 offices for faculty members.
“I like the case style classrooms – it makes it easier to interact with the students,” Fairfield said in an e-mail. “It is [also] great for the students to have so much space to hold group meetings and to study.”
Many students cite the glass atrium as their favorite part of the building for a variety of reasons.
“Unlike Lauinger [Library], the new business school building has a much brighter feel because of its open atrium and the fact that it has lots of windows letting in natural light,” Kaitlyn Neuberger (SFS ’10) said.
“My favorite part of the business school building is the auditorium on the fourth floor, since the glass walls showcase beautiful views of Georgetown,” Kelly Skowera (COL ’13) said. “I especially loved studying in the business school around finals time,” she added, mentioning the difficulty in finding open study space when the library is full.
Other students said they appreciate the unprecedented technological features of the 179,000-square foot structure, including data ports, flat-screen monitors, videoconferencing capabilities and Wi-Fi in the breakout rooms and lounges around the building.
“It’s the most modern building on campus, and the classrooms are second to none,” Jonathan Rabar (MSB ’13) said in an e-mail. “It was $82.5 million well spent.”
