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A project to upgrade the home of Portland State University‘s School of Business Administration will include the renovation of more than 100,000 square feet and an addition totaling 38,000 square feet.

General contractor Skanska began work on the project’s first phase in August with partial demolition of the building’s west side, which formerly housed the university’s Graduate School of Education. That portion of the building has been reduced to its structural elements and is being modernized with new HVAC, electrical, plumbing and communications systems, exterior walls and windows.

The business school will relocate into the west side upon completion of renovations in September 2016, allowing the project’s second phase to begin with demolition and modernization of the building’s east side.

The project’s third phase, which is being performed simultaneously with the renovation work, is construction of a 38,000-square-foot building that will connect to the existing building via a five-story, glass-lined atrium with a sloped roof and crisscrossing stairs and bridges.

Upon completion of that building, the business school will have 21 classrooms – three times as many as it has now. The building will also contain 10 project and team rooms, four industry-specific centers, multiple common spaces and study areas, and new offices for faculty and staff.

The $60 million project was designed by SRG Partnership Inc. and German firm Behnisch Architekten. The engineering team includes PAE Consulting Engineers Inc. for mechanical/electrical/plumbing, Catena Consulting Engineers for structural, and KPFF Consulting Engineers for civil. Mayer/Reed is the landscape architect.

The building will open in August 2017 as the Karl Miller Center, named for the grandfather of donor Rick Miller, a PSU alum.