About

This project includes both an addition to and a partial renovation of Kenneth E. Peacock Hall, home to the students, faculty and staff of App State’s Walker College of Business (WCOB). The project is expected to extend the life of the building by 30–50 years.

Built in 1990, the 130,000-square-foot, four-story Peacock Hall is due for a systematic renovation to replace elevators, HVAC/controls and chillers, as well as the tiered, lecture-style classrooms that make up 80% of Peacock Hall’s classrooms. The classrooms’ fixed seating — ideal in the 90’s, when students passively listened to lectures — now hinders daily reconfigurations of classroom furniture that allow students to form smaller, more agile project teams.

Proposed facilities under discussion for the building’s new addition include:

• Classrooms.
• Common areas.
• A learning lab.
• Special use areas for campus events.
• Mechanical infrastructure space.
• Student service offices.

The vision for the learning lab space includes features such as a real-time stock market ticker and Bloomberg terminals that offer financial analysis software — providing students with cutting-edge academic experiences.

A planned bridge between the existing building and the addition will connect the first and second floors. The scope of renovations for Peacock Hall will be determined following the completion of the building’s addition, which will be constructed in phases.

This project will support planning for the greater district goal of opening Boone Creek and replacing surface parking with a new parking structure, along with a redesign of traffic flow for buses.

Walker College is accredited by AACSB International — the premier global accrediting body for schools of business — and offers 10 undergraduate majors and three master’s degree programs, including its nationally and internationally recognized Master of Business Administration (MBA) program.

Peacock Hall also houses several units that support students campuswide and in which faculty and staff engage in multidisciplinary research that benefits both campus and the local community. These include the Transportation Insight Center for Entrepreneurship, Center for Economic Research and Policy Analysis and Brantley Risk and Insurance Center.

The building is named in honor of App State’s seventh leader, Kenneth E. Peacock, who was a professor in the college before serving as chancellor of the university from 2004–14.

Status

A conceptual design study for the building’s addition was completed by architecture firm LS3P Associates in November 2019 and has been reviewed by university leadership.

App State has selected McMillan Pazdan Smith Architecture, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, as the designer for the project, and Vannoy Construction, located in Jefferson, North Carolina, will serve as the project’s construction manager.

The design for the addition is underway and App State will soon secure a contractor for the work. Construction for the Peacock Hall addition is slated to begin in spring 2024 and conclude in time for the fall 2026 semester.

How is it funded?

App State received $25 million in legislative funding support for the Peacock Hall project as part of the FY 2021–22 biennial budget bill, signed into law by Gov. Roy Cooper on Nov. 18, 2021. The bill also includes $200,000 for upgrades to Peacock Hall’s existing elevators. As part of the FY 2023–24 biennial budget bill, the state allocated an additional $15 million in support of the Peacock Hall project.

The university’s Building Leaders fundraising initiative will supplement the state-allocated funds, with $5 million of the initiative’s $15 million goal dedicated toward the construction of the Peacock Hall addition. Building Leaders funds will also support faculty professorships, student scholarships and Dean’s Club-funded opportunities, such as professional development, study abroad programs, research and guest lectures from industry leaders, in Walker College. As of September 2023, App State has raised $10.5 million through the Building Leaders initiative.

A learning lab, to be constructed as part of the Peacock Hall addition, will be funded in part by a $1.3 million gift that App State alumnus Dennis Covington ’92 and his wife, Katherine Covington, made to App State in support of academic resources for Walker College and facilities for App State Athletics.

Who will benefit?

The college’s faculty, staff and more than 3,000 students will benefit from the additional classroom, lab and office space provided through the Peacock Hall addition/renovation project.

Additionally, the project stands to benefit the recruiters and high-profile business leaders that Walker College routinely hosts — such as Pamela Mars Wright, former chair and director of the board that governs the $40 billion Mars Inc., who delivered the 63rd Harlan E. Boyles Distinguished Lecture at App State in March 2022.

How does it support UNC System Goals and Metrics?

Providing the best environment for teaching and learning can impact recruitment and retention of students, faculty and staff.