Steven D. Bell Hall

Designed for learning and community

Bell Hall’s innovative design enhances learning, collaboration and engagement as it fosters physical, mental and emotional well-being.

The four-story, light-filled atrium will provide a gathering and study space.

Our main entrance will move to William Blythe Drive, facilitating stronger connections across the UNC campus. A 12-foot-wide outdoor, elevated walkway connects the Blythe Road and McColl Building entrances, and covered walkways connect Bell Hall to the second and third levels of the McColl Building.

Features include:

• Four levels
• Large lobby and reception area with donor recognition features
• Four-story inner atrium provides natural light into the center of the building
• 16 flexible, technologically advanced classrooms equipped for simultaneous in-person and online teaching
• 39 study rooms as well as study areas throughout the building
• 40-seat outdoor tiered teaching space “built into nature”
• Study space and lounges for UBP, MAC, MSM and MBA students that connect to administrative offices
• Meeting and event spaces
• Sited to take advantage of the wooded area, with outdoor multi-level event and study/social spaces, a plaza, terraces, a garden with a reflection pond and green spaces
• Reading room with curated art
• Expanded dining facilities, including a two-story dining room, a café and grab-and-go section
• Offices for:
  • Ackerman Center for Excellence in Sustainability
  • Business Communication Center
  • Center for the Business of Health
  • Family Enterprise Center
  • STAR Program
  • Elected and club student leaders in the UBP and MBA programs
  • Wood Center for Real Estate Studies
• Career areas:
  • Interview suite with 27 interview/meeting rooms
  • Recruiting lounge for employer engagement
  • Restrooms with lockers and changing stations for students to temporarily store their clothing for interviews and special events
• Lactation rooms
• Interfaith and meditation room
• Wi-Fi and cellular coverage at outdoor plazas and balconies up to forest edge and inside parking decks
• Two new levels of parking and additional electric vehicle-charging stations with new entrances to the parking deck from Blythe Road and Kenan Center Drive
• Unfinished space for future growth

Sustainable by design

Green spaces contribute to sustainability goals, while enhancing campus aesthetics and overall well-being.

Sustainability is a design hallmark of Bell Hall, which uses innovative sustainable practices. It features energy-efficient systems, renewable materials and water conservation, significantly reducing our carbon footprint and operational costs over time.

Its design leverages the surrounding natural environment to:

• Reduce energy use
• Prioritize green space surrounding the building
• Incorporate the wooded area and natural light

Bell Hall is the first UNC building to target all three of the University’s Three Zeros initiative: net-zero water, zero waste to landfills and net-zero greenhouse gas emissions. Our goal is to earn a Leadership in Energy and Environment Design (LEED) Platinum rating from the U.S. Green Building Council and three stars from Fitwel, the highest ratings and certification standards offered by both groups. Photovoltaic (PV) solar cell panels help us achieve a Zero Carbon Footprint, providing electric power to operate Bell Hall without fossil fuels.

You’ll see a real-time display of its sustainable and energy performance.

The sustainable design integrates:

• Photovoltaic (PV) panels on the roof that produce electricity directly from sunlight.
• Fresh air intake
• Smart surfaces that will reduce CO2 emissions and provide cooling effects and water reduction on the micro- and macro-climate by using cool and green roofs, solar PV panels and carbon-sequestered concrete.
• Sustainable finishes and construction products
• LED lighting fixtures that reduce energy costs and replacement/maintenance
• Planting more trees than we removed during construction
• Nine additional electric vehicle-charging stations
• Construction waste recycled and diverted from landfills
• Dual-plumbing-pipe supply system uses non-potable water at toilets/urinals and low-flow plumbing fixtures.
• 100% compostable products and composting all food service waste and trash
• Storm water drained from the roof and paved surfaces into integral landscape water features with recirculating water systems and a wet-water retention feature

Art curated for Bell Hall

Carefully curated artwork for Bell Hall will enhance its physical space and reflect the dynamic energy, enthusiasm and creativity that define the UNC Kenan-Flagler community, creating an environment that inspires and engages everyone comes to our campus.

Here are some of 30 works of art that have been selected for Bell Hall:

The art of the Johnson Collection
Bell Hall will exhibit selections on loan from The Johnson Collection representing a diverse roster of visual voices of the South and featuring luminaries like North Carolina native Romare Bearden, known for his vibrant collages combining photography, paint and other media to convey emotion. Other artists represented in the collection are associated with Black Mountain College, an influential art-focused college and artists’ collaborative located in the North Carolina Blue Ridge Mountains from 1933-1957. Part of the mid-century modernism artistic movement, these artists favored simplicity and clean lines to emphasize the interplay of form and function.

“Stand Up Sky” by Megan Rooney
Megan Rooney’s “Stand Up Sky” will hang in the Bell Hall dining area thanks to the generosity of John Townsend (BSBA ’77, MBA ’82). Spanning almost 23 feet, this immersive piece creates an energetic focal point enhancing the lively environment of our most utilized student-centered gathering place.

Rooney’s work stands out for its eclectic fusion of vibrant colors, abstract forms and tactile materials. It has been exhibited in galleries and institutions in the U.S. and Europe, earning recognition for its thought-provoking nature and aesthetic appeal.

Ben Leone sculpture commissioned by Tom Kenan
West Palm Beach artist Ben Leone incorporates materials often overlooked in the everyday and uses traditional techniques with modern aesthetics to create an ongoing conversation about our relationship with the world and connection with nature. A sculpture by Leone, made possible by the generosity of Tom Kenan (BA ’59) is part of the Bell Hall landscape in a garden area honoring Frank and Betty Kenan. Evoking the nature’s organic shapes, it is a symbol of inspiration and creativity to all who learn and work on our campus.

Serving more Undergraduate Business Program students

New classrooms provide flexible teaching space with advanced technology, including digital screens on all walls.

The driving force behind support for our new building is the high student demand for our UBP. Because of space constraints, demand outpaced our ability to serve talented UNC students.

Since Bell Hall was approved and funding secured, we have steadily grown our enrollment and will reach our goal to admit 50% more Carolina students – over 500 majors per year – for the 2026-2027 academic year.

We also admit more business minors and have increased our offerings, such as the new Business of Health minor.

The enrollment growth comes with a continued commitment to excellence, innovation and societal impact. That includes a focus on developing students’ critical thinking, creativity and problem-solving skills; using innovative teaching strategies with experiential focus; and being flexible and adaptable to an ever-changing business world.

Our graduates choose to live and build successful careers in our state. They have started companies, created jobs and revenue for North Carolina and continue to serve the growing needs of our state, country and global community.

What’s next for the McColl Building

The entrance to the McColl Building from Bell Hall serves as the front door to the MAC and MSM Program offices.

Renovations to the McColl Building will apply the same design and finishes used for Bell Hall and include:

• A two-story addition with a new entrance into the McColl Building from Bell Hall and renovated lobby
• 15 renovated classrooms with capabilities for simultaneous in-classroom and remote teaching
• A new seminar room
• 22 new study rooms
• New student lounges, study areas and administrative offices for MAC Program and MSM Program
• 31 new faculty offices and renovated faculty offices
• Renovated offices for the PhD Program on the fourth floor
• Koury Auditorium with a new permanent stage
• Expanded McColl Felicite Latané Plaza seating area with expanded Wi-Fi coverage outside
• Communications technology suite for our Faculty Consulting Group with two production studios, control rooms, two faculty teaching studios, podcast studio, editing suite and meeting room
• Photovoltaic (PV) solar cell panels on the roof

Groups with offices in the renovated McColl Building will be:

• Advancement
• Center for Decision Research
• Center for Excellence in Investment Management
• Dean’s Suite
• Energy Center
• Faculty
• IT and Academic Technologies
• Marketing and Communications
• PNC Capital Markets Lab

Investing in UNC Kenan-Flagler

Bell Hall provides much-needed space for UNC Kenan-Flagler to expand.

Our history is one of educational innovation and growth, and Bell Hall answers our urgent need for more space.

Since UNC founded the Department of Commerce in 1919, student demand for learning about business has outpaced the buildings we have called home.

The department was first housed in Alumni Hall, moved to Saunders Hall (now Carolina Hall) in 1922, Bingham Hall in 1929, to Carroll Hall in 1953, and our current home, the McColl Building, named in honor of former Chairman of the Board and CEO of Bank of America Hugh McColl (BSBA ’57), in 1997. After our nondegree Executive Development programs outgrew their home in the Kenan Center, we opened our Rizzo Center in 2000, and our Charlotte campus in 2022 to serve the business community in North Carolina’s financial center.

“As we look toward the future,” says Dean Mary Margaret Frank, “Steven D. Bell Hall will be a place where we lead the way forward by engaging with industry, fostering communities and driving excellence for the state and beyond.”

We again ran out of space to serve our students in the McColl Building. Transitioning from a department to a school offering five degree programs, we are a far more complex organization with a typical enrollment today of 940 Undergraduate Business, 1,800 MBA, 400 MAC and 70 PhD students. Despite expanding into the basement and attic, we still lacked enough classrooms, study rooms and offices, with some staff working in rented space in town.

We are one enterprise with multiple locations for learning: Bell Hall, McColl Building, Rizzo Center, Charlotte campus and online. And what’s important about our buildings is what happens inside them – learning, connecting, growing and changing – the transformational power of education. The addition of Bell Hall makes it possible to provide access to a Carolina education to more people than ever.

Giving thanks

Funding from the State and support from private donors built Bell Hall.

Bell Hall symbolizes the collective effort and dedication of the entire community.

“We are honored that our North Carolina legislature values the positive economic impact that Bell Hall will have on the state,” says Dean Mary Margaret Frank (BSBA ’92, MAC ’92, PhD ’99). “UNC Kenan-Flagler graduates are an enormous economic powerhouse for the state of North Carolina as they make their communities stronger, start new companies, provide good jobs, and develop new products that improve all of our lives.”

Private support was key, too. “Because of our donors’ generous support, Bell Hall has received the most private support of any building at the University,” says Frank. “This project is an incredible example of the deep commitment our community members have for our school and how a public-private partnership made the expansion possible.”

The cost of the building project is $195 million, which includes Bell Hall and the McColl Building renovations. The State of North Carolina funded $105 million, and private donors funded $90 million. Their commitment and generous contributions make it possible for us to expand the UNC Kenan-Flagler campus and fulfill our mission to develop leaders who make the world a better place.

If you are considering investing in the UNC Kenan-Flagler campus expansion, limited naming opportunities are still available in Bell Hall and the McColl Building. Please contact Shawn Gavin, associate dean of advancement, at shawn_gavin@kenan-flagler.unc.edu or 919.962.9143.