Jones School breaks ground on new expansion, final project to wrap up spring 2026
The Jones Graduate School of Business will expand its building, constructing an additional 95,000 square feet around McNair Hall. Rice Business announced blueprint plans for the new $54.5 million building at its groundbreaking May 9. The new building will include multiple large classrooms, lecture halls, dining facilities, event spaces and communal areas, designed to “blend seamlessly with the campus and its surroundings.”
The project was slated to begin Feb. 2, 2024 and wrap up by Jan. 2, 2026, according to its details page on Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. The Jones School had switched construction firms on the project after reopening the bid to additional developers, chief business officer at the Jones School Christian Rafidi told the Thresher — the switch delayed the project’s timeline, impacting both construction and operating hours for Audrey’s. The final building is now expected to be complete by spring 2026.
Rice Business is still in the process of fundraising $40 million for the project, Jones School dean Peter Rodriguez said at the groundbreaking. New York-based firm Architecture Research Office, which has worked on Calvin Klein’s Paris headquarters and Princeton University’s architecture school renovations, will spearhead the project. Houston-based Kirksey Architecture will serve as the executive architect.
The new space will integrate the building’s existing architecture, wrapping “the south and west sides of the school’s existing McNair Hall, introducing new public spaces between the two,” according to ARO’s project description on its website. Woodson Courtyard, the patio just outside of Audrey’s, will be enclosed by floor-to-ceiling paneled windows and a coffered ceiling with skylights. The building will extend closer towards the Shepherd School of Music, with the newly-constructed wing sitting adjacent to the James Turrell Skyspace. The angled brick exterior will “maintain the views from within and … mitigate light pollution affecting the Skyspace at night,” according to ARO.
Rice debuted its undergraduate business major in 2021 — now, over a quarter of new students are interested in the major, according to 2023 data from the Office of Academic Advising. In January 2024, the Jones School introduced its new hybrid Master of Business Administration program, shortly after the U.S News & World Report ranked its online MBA program 12th in the nation. The new building will “support the entrepreneurial spirit and unique learning culture” of the Jones School, ARO said.
More from The Rice Thresher
Rice to support Harvard in lawsuit against research funding freeze
Rice, alongside 17 other research universities, requested a federal judge for permission to file an amicus curiae brief in support of Harvard University’s lawsuit against the Trump administration over more than $2 billion in frozen research grants.
Mayor Whitmire discusses ‘the state of Houston’ between audience protests at Baker Institute
John Whitmire’s remarks on the city’s budget, transportation and infrastructure were interrupted twice by shouts from audience members at a Baker Institute event May 29. At the event, which was open to the public, Whitmire spoke about the current state of Houston alongside former county judge Ed Emmett.
Rice reaffirms support for international students after Trump administration targets Harvard
Rice and the Office of International Students and Scholars said in a May 23 email that they are monitoring the Trump administration’s actions towards Harvard to bar the school from enrolling international students. A federal judge temporarily halted the move less than 24 hours later.
Please note All comments are eligible for publication by The Rice Thresher.