Exterior. Image Courtesy of Ennead Architects
Ennead Architects has released images of the new Engineering Education and Research Center for the University of Texas at Austin’s Cockrell School of Engineering. Currently under construction, the 433,000 square foot (40,200 square meter) building will house undergraduate education, interdisciplinary graduate research and two distinct engineering departments, and will become a new hub of activity at the edge of campus. The design takes advantage of a unique section featuring stacked atrium and outdoor spaces to serve a variety of educational and public functions.
Atrium. Image Courtesy of Ennead Architects
In reflection of the school’s area of study, the building has been designed as a showcase for engineering, with an exposed concrete structural frame and steel truss systems, bridges, a glass roof, large-span sun shading systems and a centerpiece spiral staircase.
The educational program has been divided into two limestone-clad towers containing labs, offices and work spaces for the different engineering departments. The wings are connected by a triple-height public atrium capped with a folded glass and steel clear-span roof structure that also becomes the base of a 5-story outdoor volume, shielded from the sun by a screen hung between the two towers. Glass and steel bridges connect the building’s upper levels along the eastern and western facades.
Exterior. Image Courtesy of Ennead Architects
Atrium. Image Courtesy of Ennead Architects
Fronting the atrium is the National Instruments Student Project Center, which provides 23,000 square feet (2,100 square meters) of maker space to undergraduate students, putting a strong emphasis on design, fabrication and rapid-prototyping early in their educations. The majority of lab spaces in the two-story Project Center feature floor-to-ceiling glazing, putting student work on display for anyone passing through the building.
Courtesy of Ennead Architects
The Engineering Education and Research Center is scheduled to be completed in 2017.
Courtesy of Ennead Architects
Courtesy of Ennead Architects
Courtesy of Ennead Architects
- Architects: Ennead Architects
- Location: University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, United States
- Architect: Ennead Architects
- Design Partner: Todd Schliemann
- Management Partner: Kevin McClurkan
- Project Designer: Alex O’Briant
- Project Manager/Project Architect: Emily Kirkland
- Project Architect, Design: Megan Miller
- Interiors: Charmian Place
- Team Members: Zach Olczak, Jena Rimkus
- Associate Architect: Jacobs
- Structural: Datum Engineers
- Mep: Affiliated Engineers, Inc.
- Laboratory: Jacobs Consultancy, GPR Planners Collaborative
- Landscape: Coleman & Associates
- Theater: Fisher Dachs Associates
- Graphics/Wayfinding Design: Jankedesign
- Technology: Datacom Design Group
- Food Service: Worrell Design Group
- Security: Kroll Inc.
- Accessibility: K+K Associates
- Code: Aon
- Cost Estimating/Constructability: Garza Program Management
- Construction Manager: Hensel Phelps Construction Co
- Area: 433000.0 sqm
- Project Year: 2017
- Photographs: Courtesy of Ennead Architects
Sig Nordal 