McIntire School of Commerce

Rouss Hall and Robertson Hall

See also Campaign Goals and Priorities

Monroe Hall, McIntire’s most recent home, was enlarged in the 1980s. However, with only eight classrooms and one seminar room, the school’s teaching spaces were at full capacity, and McIntire had outgrown its faculty and administrative offices. The “Back to the Lawn” project has created a new academic complex, integrating the complete renovation of Rouss Hall with the construction of an adjoining building, Robertson Hall.

John A. Griffin (McIntire ’85) made the lead gift for Robertson Hall and suggested the building’s name to honor the legacy of distinguished financier Julian H. Robertson, Jr., and his wife, Josie. The 132,000-square-foot Robertson Hall adjoins Rouss Hall, creating a 156,000-square-foot academic complex adjacent to Thomas Jefferson’s historic Lawn.

Thirty years ago, Rouss Hall was home to McIntire, before the school moved to the Monroe Hall location. The new complex provides the facilities the school needs to remain competitive, including ten case classrooms, a forty-seat flat-floor seminar classroom, an auditorium-style classroom, and an information technology classroom and computer lab. In addition, fifteen group study rooms are available to students twenty-four hours a day. McIntire shares two classrooms in Rouss Hall with the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences for collaborative courses and programs.

Robertson Hall also features an attractive, environmentally friendly “green” roof designed to allow the planting of sedum, a low-growing garden plant that needs little water and acts as a natural insulator. Nelson Byrd Woltz provided terrace and courtyard landscape architecture services, and Olin Partnership acted as exterior landscape architects.