Three renovation projects got the University of Michigan Board of Regents' blessing today, including the design for a $56 million project at Alice Lloyd Hall.

Paul Stachowiak, president of Integrated Design Solutions of Troy, presented regents with the schematic design for the residence hall’s renovation. While the exterior look of the building won't change much, the infrastructure at Alice Lloyd Hall is set for a serious upgrade.

U-M President Mary Sue Coleman said the project will improve the student experience at the university.

“It’s a huge addition and will add positively to the campus,” she said.

The project will begin in the spring of 2011, with work being done on the plumbing, heating and ventilation and electrical systems, as well as voice and data lines. A new fire sprinkler system will be meshed with detection and alarms installed a few years ago.

Alice Crocker Lloyd Hall was constructed in 1949 and is a 176,000-square-foot structure that houses about 560 university students. It is located on Observatory Street in the Hill area of campus.

The building has been designed in line with Energy Star guidelines — one of just two university buildings in the state that have met the standard, Stachowiak said. Additional insulation will be installed in exterior walls and the roof.

High-speed wireless Internet and air conditioning will also be added throughout the building.

Regents approved the project unanimously. Regent Andrea Fischer Newman said she believes it will be a welcome addition to the university campus.

“I think it will be well received, and it’s something that I am very supportive of,” she said.

Bathrooms and student rooms will also be renovated during the project, which is expected to be complete by the beginning of the 2012 fall term. Work will also be done on the commons areas and community-specific spaces inside the building.

The project is a part of the university’s Residential Life Initiatives, which was launched in 2004. The RLI is a comprehensive plan to renovate student housing at the university.

The other projects moved forward by the board were renovations at the George Granger Brown Memorial Laboratories and the Edward Henry Kraus Building.

The G.G. Brown building will see a 62,500-square-foot addition for research laboratories and offices for faculty and graduate students to support mechanical engineering research. The project is expected to cost about $46 million.

The construction will displace approximately 170 parking spaces, with just 20 of those spots existing after the work is done.

Robert Goodwin, of the Perkins + Will architecture firm, said one side of the building will be installed with LED lights for abstract images to be displayed at night. He said the imagery would be representative of the research going on inside the building.

“It could really attract people to the notion of the research going on here,” Goodwin said. “In the lobby, there would be a display that would explain this, as well.”

The final project approved was a $1.7 million renovation of existing labs in the Kraus building. The molecular, cellular and developmental biology laboratories will be supplied with more modern research facilities on the second and third floors.

Kyle Feldscher covers K-12 education for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com.