LMN celebrates the completion of the John Tulloch Business Building in Reno, Nevada. Positioned on the burgeoning southern edge of the University of Nevada, Reno campus, the project is part of a significant new development that acts as a bridge between the university and the City of Reno. Establishing a welcoming campus gateway, the building draws the community in, creating a new front door on the university’s southern perimeter.

The John Tulloch Business Building is part of the larger Mathewson Gateway District, designed to link the university and city and catalyze growth for the region. In addition to the College of Business building, the site includes a hotel as part of a public/private partnership delivery model. Together, the district helps knit together the university and the larger community, offering a new campus corridor that invites all to enter and engage.

The College of Business’s new home is a 128,000-square-foot, five-story building featuring a permeable design with multiple points of entry, welcoming people from both its urban- and campus-facing fronts. Drawing circulation through the building enhances programmatic adjacencies between university activities inside and the community context outside, encouraging active learning and cross-pollination.

The building expresses its location bridging campus and city by merging traditional building elements with more contemporary design aspects. Its southern and eastern façades feature brick masonry, honoring the campus’s heritage and its predominant architectural expression, while the inner courtyard features a more contemporary metal and glass expression, gesturing to the urban experience beyond.

Programmatically, the building spans five levels with diverse spaces designed to serve both public engagement and academic needs. The lower floor houses classrooms, computer labs, and a 300-seat auditorium tailored for learning as well as community events for enhanced public interaction. The second level transforms into a bustling social hub, featuring a cafeteria with extensive glazing that showcases the building’s activity to the surrounding urban context. The third level includes classrooms, case study rooms, and flexible study spaces with views to downtown Reno, the university campus, and the distant mountains. The building’s upper levels contain academic offices, with two outdoor terraces on the upper floor.

The building is organized around a central courtyard, which offers an extension of Wolfpack Way, a major thoroughfare on campus, and links it to the City of Reno beyond. Activated with greenery and native plantings, the courtyard extends the campus ecosystem, hearkening to the Manzanita Bowl green space to the north. Here, the building marries the urban and the natural, thoughtfully integrating the two for a welcoming new campus gathering space.

LEED Gold certified, the building emphasizes high-performance design that highlights the university’s commitment to energy efficiency and environmental responsibility. All told, the John Tulloch Business Building stands as a model for future university development, establishing a permeable and welcoming gateway that bridges the gap between campus and city.

Design: LMN Architects
Design-Builder: Clark Construction Group
Photography: Bruce Damonte