U of U breaks ground on Lassonde Studios entrepreneur center.

• Author: Felix, Devin

Salt Lake City--UNIVERSITY OF UTAH officials believe the school just took a step toward creating hundreds or thousands of new entrepreneurs in Utah over the coming decades. The school broke ground in October on Lassonde Studios, a planned 160,000-square-foot building that will be the central hub of the U's LASSONDE ENTREPRENEUR INSTITUTE.

When it's completed, the five-story building will contain a wide array of spaces and tools that the institute's students will be able to use, 24 hours a day, to work on their projects and ideas. And 400 of those students will live inside the center, putting them in constant proximity to their collaborators and their work. "The students there will be able to live, breathe, work and create their vision of what they want to be and what they can give back to society." says Pierre Lassonde, the project's mastermind and main donor. Lassonde donated S12 million toward the building and activities that will occur there.

The facility will have three types of housing, including full traditional one-and two-bedroom units, as well as loft-style units. But the most unusual type of housing will be modular living pods, a concept developed specifically for the Lassonde Studios. They will be small, movable bedrooms for a single person, placed within a larger space that has bathrooms, kitchens and work spaces. In addition to housing, the building will contain tools that might be used in the creation of products or prototypes.

The Lassonde Institute, which was started at the University of Utah more than a decade ago, accepts students of any major who are...