Freeman School announces $35 million expansion

Tulane University will launch a major expansion of the A. B. Freeman School of Business this spring to meet surging enrollment, enhance industry-leading programming and provide new, state-of-the-art learning spaces for the next generation of business students.

“Business students now account for nearly a third of all of our undergraduates,” Tulane President Mike Fitts said. “With more than 2,900 students, Freeman is one of the largest of our nine schools. This expansion and renovation will cement Tulane’s reputation as one of the top destinations for the nation's brightest students of business.”

Plans call for renovating about 40,000 square feet of existing space and constructing an approximately 45,000 square-foot, four-story addition that will convert Freeman’s two-building footprint on the uptown campus into a unified structure called the Goldring/Woldenberg Business Complex.

The expansion, which is projected to cost $35 million, will transform the student experience at the Freeman School with advanced, flexible classrooms; expanded breakout rooms for collaborative learning; a new financial analysis lab; a larger, modernized Career Management Center; and incubator space for student startups within a new home for the Lepage Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

“Freeman’s enrollment has jumped by nearly 50 percent in the last five years, making us one of the fastest-growing business school in the country,” said Ira Solomon, Freeman School dean. “This much-needed addition will enable us to meet the widening demand for our educational programs while dramatically enhancing the learning environment for current and future students.”

The complex will also feature a sweeping three-story atrium, additional space for faculty offices as well as a newly designed Student Gateway that will emphasize Freeman’s global reach and serve as a gathering space and entrance to the Monroe Quad.

Renowned architectural firm Pelli Clark Pelli designed the building, which will be LEED Gold certified. Construction will begin in May and is projected to be complete by Jan 2018.

High-resolution illustrations of the Goldring/Woldenberg Business Complex are available online here.