campus news
By JAY REY
Published April 3, 2026
A $110-million renovation to Parker Hall will provide a new home, new workspace and new energy on the South Campus.
Parker, built in 1945 as home to the School of Engineering, is among the next round of renovations scheduled for South.
While still in the design phase, the project will go out to bid later this year. Work is slated to begin next year, along with Clark Hall, another major South Campus project. Completion is scheduled for fall 2030.
The architectural firm Perkins Eastman, the consultant, called the project a “complete renovation” of Parker and recently provided the campus community a preview of what’s in store.
The renovation will provide:
Once the project is completed, the School of Social Work will relocate from Baldy Hall on the North Campus to Parker, where it will be the main tenant.
Parker’s historic façade will be restored and ramps will be incorporated into the front entrance to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. An outdoor classroom will be integrated into the exterior design.
A glass vestibule and lobby on the parking lot side of the building will provide a new, welcoming entrance to the school, leading to comfortable office and research space for working with students and members of the community.
The first floor will serve as the main hub, or commons, and include the main entrance from the quadrangle, large classrooms, seminar rooms, informal learning spaces and the dean’s suite — all arranged around a central open area that reinforces the sense of community.
The second and third floors will consist largely of office space for faculty and graduate students, mixed with conference, seminar and interview rooms to support the school’s teaching and research mission.
A big part of the conversation has been how to design the building with trauma-informed best practices, says Kelly Hayes McAlonie, director of campus planning.
“This is something that the School of Social Work is really interested in because of their pedagogy,” she says. “So, the architects have leaned into that — creating a welcoming front entry is really important, as is drawing in natural light and finding ways to create open vistas as much as possible.”
Two wings of Parker — additions built in 1947 and 1948 — will be significantly upgraded as fabrication space for architecture students.
One side will support wood and metal work; another side will house robotics and advanced tools. A gated, outdoor workshop will be situated between the two wings, providing space for large-scale jobs and easy access for deliveries.
A new side entrance will be created for the fabrication labs, which are double-height spaces with no floors above. This avoids disturbing the other building occupants from any noise in the workshops.
The new energy hub will be strategically located on the northwest corner of Parker Hall and play a key role in the South Campus’ decarbonization transition to a more sustainable energy system.
The hub will leverage UB’s first new geothermal wellfield, which will be located beneath the facility’s current parking lot. In addition to providing heating and cooling to Parker, the energy hub has also been designed to feed carbon-free energy to Wende, Townsend, Beck and Hayes halls once work has occurred in these buildings to accept the new technology.
Funding for the Parker Energy Hub was provided by Gov. Kathy Hochul through the New York State Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act ($12M) and the Sustainable Futures Fund ($6M) as part of New York’s climate action strategy to transition to a cleaner, greener future by phasing out fossil fuel-based systems.
“This work represents another key step forward in advancing our South Campus Clean Energy Master Plan and follows on the heels of successful decarbonization work on two of our most iconic buildings: Crosby and Foster halls,” says Ryan A. McPherson, chief sustainability officer.
“The new geothermal wells and heat pump plant represent our first zero carbon energy hub at UB and is a testament to the continued leadership from University Facilities, the State University of New York Construction Fund and New York’s commitment to create a livable climate,” he says.