South Lawn design nearly complete

The conceptual design phase of the College’s South Lawn Project is nearly complete following a summer and fall filled with a series of new architectural proposals that expand the openness and size of the University’s most ambitious construction project in a century.

According to the latest concepts, which await Board of Visitors review this winter, the South Lawn will stretch southward from the rear of Old Cabell Hall over Jefferson Park Avenue on a wide pedestrian terrace to the area known now as the B-1 parking lot. The L-shaped site then turns east, extending to Brandon Avenue in the direction of the research and hospital buildings of the University of Virginia Health System.

Fifty-year-old New Cabell Hall and several apartment buildings will be removed to make way for the ensemble of new classrooms, offices and community gathering spaces for the College. When complete, the South Lawn will house 10 of the College’s 26 departments and host more than 12,000 student visits daily.

The new design evolved from ideas raised by University and College officials including President John T. Casteen III, University Architect David J. Neuman and Arts & Sciences Dean Edward L. Ayers; architects from Polshek Partnership; and lead volunteers and donors from the College Foundation, during meetings in Charlottesville and New York City.