Purpose-built facility for University of South Florida’s Judy Genshaft Honors College breaks ground

Located on the University of South Florida’s (USF) Tampa campus, a new purpose-built facility for the Judy Genshaft Honors College has broken ground.

The five-story, 85,000-sf building will provide a new home for the Honors Program by providing flexible spaces that foster and enhance interdisciplinary exchange between students, faculty, staff, and the broader USF community.

Highly visible from USF’s central campus and accessible via multiple entry points, the new building’s design emphasizes spaces that promote community engagement, collaboration, and creativity. A centrally located atrium anchors the building. The atrium connects all user into a single spatial experience and is lined with learning lofts that encourage interaction and collaboration.

Flexible spaces adjacent to the atrium on the ground floor can be opened and combined to accommodate large-scale events. The second floor features an exterior, shaded terrace that is accessible from the inside and outside of the building and serves as an outdoor study and meeting space. 

The lower-form of the five-story building promotes greater pedestrian activity, which in turn increases the frequency of casual encounters and informal meetings critical for interdisciplinary collaboration.

The building also includes classrooms, labs, study areas, offices, and a publicly accessible cafe. The new, purpose-built facility will not only provide the Honors College with a free-standing building tailored to its program and strategically woven into USF’s campus, but will also allow it to accommodate an additional 600 students, bringing its total number of students to 3,000. 

Construction on the facility is slated for completion in late fall 2022.