Fuse at Mason Square

Address: 3351 Fairfax Drive, Arlington

Project: Type: Public

Project Size: 345,000 square feet

Project Cost: $183 million

Owner: George Mason University

Contractor: Clark Construction

Architect: Page (now part of Stantec)

Engineer: Cagley & Associates (structural)

Subcontractor: Clark Concrete

Before a single column could be set for George Mason University’s new innovation hub in Arlington, the construction team had to reckon with what was already in the ground. Beneath the former Kann’s department store site lay a field of crumbling concrete piles — undisclosed by initial site scans and impossible to remove — that forced a complete redesign of the building’s foundation. Then, during construction, crews discovered a 6-foot-by-8-foot stormwater vault actively collecting drainage cutting directly across the planned below-grade garage. The team developed a full design package to lower the culvert beneath the new building and
keep construction moving.

That the $183 million, 345,000-square-foot Fuse at Mason Square was delivered on time for the start of the fall 2025 school year despite both discoveries speaks to the strength of the predevelopment agreement approach that governed the project — a structure that locked in the project’s scope, price and schedule, giving the team the stability to absorb unforeseen conditions without losing momentum.

The building’s delivery model was as innovative as its program. A 75-year ground lease-leaseback agreement between George Mason and a private development consortium enabled the university to accelerate a facility central to its commitment to producing  15,000 computer science and engineering graduates over the next two decades. “The most surefire way to strengthen an innovation ecosystem is for a top-tier research university, local industry and the community to join together in partnership,” says George Mason President Gregory Washington.

Fuse is organized as stacked “vertical neighborhoods,” each built around an open collaboration spine the design team calls Main Street — wide pathways running every floor to encourage spontaneous exchange between academic and industry tenants. The building was also the university’s first to receive LEED Platinum certification, with a 39.1% reduction in annual energy use driven by triple-glazed facades, a dedicated outside air system with energy recovery and a photovoltaic curtain wall system with wiring running through custom aluminum pathways concealed behind false panels. Green roofs cover 25,000 square feet, and the project diverted 3,500 tons of construction debris from landfills.