UK Board Approves Reynolds Building for College of Design

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Feb. 22, 2019) — Today, the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees approved the design phase for the rehabilitation of the Reynolds Building as the future home for the College of Design. This project is part of the larger campus transformation plan presented to the board in December 2018.

With 140,000 square feet, the new home in the Reynolds Building will allow for the implementation of the college's ambitious plan to launch new initiatives, expand existing programs, establish new lines of design research and foster creative scholarship.

College of Design programs are now housed in Pence, Bowman, Miller and Funkhouser buildings on UK's campus. For the first time since the college's creation, all programs will be united under one roof to ensure the opportunity for interdisciplinary collaboration across design and scholarly disciplines. Serving as a gateway to campus, the Reynolds Building is located at the western boundary of a developing district, which includes the College of Education, the College of Fine Arts' School of Art and Visual Studies and multiple future campus development sites.

“This move to the Reynolds Building allows the college to build a sustainable and innovative atmosphere for the evolution of design education and future generations of students while providing us the room to grow in both scope and size,” Dean Mitzi Vernon said.

Next steps include the request for qualifications for the architect of record, immediately followed by the request for proposals for the design architect, which will be issued by UK Facilities Management later this month.