Sabal – the Symbol of South Carolina

The South Carolina Chapter of the American Planning Association (SCAPA) recently presented its 2010 planning awards, which recognized the University of South Carolina, City of Columbia, Guignard Associates and Sasaki Associates Inc. for the Innovista Master Plan for downtown Columbia and the Congaree River waterfront. The Darla Moore School of Business is located on the campus of the University of South Carolina in downtown Columbia, South Carolina.

Today over 4,800 students are educated at the Darla Moore School, making it the second largest college at the University of South Carolina, USC. It is globally renowned for its international business program, has until now been housed in a 1970sera building located near the university’s historic Horseshoe, site of the original campus established in 1801. But there is already underway a construction of a new building, which claims to a LEED Platinum rating and will be adorned with palmetto trees.

USC founded the school in 1919. In 1998, Wall Street financier and USC graduate Darla Moore donated $25 million to the business school. In her honor the school was renamed Darla Moore School of Business, although sometimes shortened to the Moore School. In 2004, the Business School received another gift by Darla Moore. She donated $45 million with the challenge to the University to match that sum. The funds are dedicated to a complete renovation of the Close-Hipp building and starting of construction of the new one, and also to increase the school’s endowment in order to ensure decent working conditions for the students, in response to the challenges of the twenty-first century.

Darla Dee Moore is a partner of the private investment firm Rainwater, Inc. Darla Moore was included repeatedly into number 50 of the most influential women in the American business.

She is a pioneering woman in the banking industry and a benefactor to many institutions in her home state of South Carolina.

In February 2013 was completed the construction of the frame of the new Moore School building, marked by a significant event - the final steel beam of the 8.5-meter-high weighing more than 450 kg was hoisted into place. It was a celebration and an honor for the steelworkers that marked the beginning of the next major phase of building construction. Located on a site near the Congaree River, the new design aligns with the university’s drive for sustainable innovation, forming a natural gateway into Columbia’s recently completed Innovista Master Plan - a sustainable work and living community. The Business School plays an essential role in this process - it is intended be a research hub, the model of the International School of Business to attract the best students from all around the world.

The Innovista Master Plan is a visionary framework for the urban redevelopment of a 2 km2 (500- acre) brownfield site in downtown Columbia. The plan creates a new mixed-use, live/work district to support the renaissance of downtown Columbia. The design concept establishes a new urban neighborhood integrated into the fabric of the downtown of the city and the university campus. University of South Carolina researchers and their private partners will live and work as the university emerges as a nationally-recognized comprehensive research institution.

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Materials provided by Rafael Viñoly Architects