A decade after completing two student housing projects for Austin College in Sherman, Texas, KWA Construction, which specializes in multifamily developments throughout the Lone Star State, reconnected with the college recently to build North Flats, a three-story 43,613-sf residence hall that added 38 units to the campus’s housing stock.
Dallas-based KWA completed North Flats last month. In 2011, it completed Phase I, which included Hass Village on Grand and The Flats at Brockett Court that combined provided 38 housing units within an aggregate 86,623 sf.
“KWA was specifically selected because of the performance of the previous phase,” says Brian Webster, the construction firm’s President. “This student housing project required a quick turnaround to ensure timely completion and adequately prepare the college for Fall semester move-ins.”
The objective of the latest project was to keep pace with the school’s growing enrollment. Founded in 1849, Austin College is Texas’s oldest institution of higher learning operating under its original charter. Its 100-acre campus is host to 1,288 students from 30 states and 14 countries.
COVID-19 PROTOCOLS IN PLACE IN STUDENT HOUSING
Each of North Flats' 38 housing units includes a full kitchen and common living space.
Construction of North Flats took exactly one year, opening in time to accommodate fall classes that began on Tuesday, August 25. The new building houses about 130 students. Similar to The Flats at Brockett Court, the new student housing building is located near the campus’s Jordan Family Language House, which offers an immersive residential learning experience in five languages.
“We believe the residential experience for our students deepens and enriches their education and further prepares them for lives of learning and success after they graduate,” says Steven P. O’Day, the college’s President
Architecture Demerest designed North Flats to match the bright Victorian building style of the rest of the campus. Each of its units includes one to four bedrooms, a full kitchen, washer and dryer, a common living area, and built-in workstations.
The 100-acre campus is enforcing protocols to stem any spread of the coronavirus.
Like every college and university that is allowing in-person classes this Fall, Austin College is monitoring the coronavirus. According to a YouTube video it posted about its safety protocols, the school remodeled its dining hall this summer to ensure that Austin College is following best practices for food service. Outside spaces now have WiFi access. Entrances and exits are managed by wayfinding and signage. The school’s maintenance provider, Aramark, has added staff for high-intensity cleaning of common areas.
Everyone on campus is required to wear a face covering, inside and outside when social distancing isn’t possible. Students, faculty and staff are also required to assess their own health daily, and report COVID-19 symptoms. The college is working with Texoma Medical Center and state and local experts on various plans and protocols that may arise.
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
Structure Tone, Turner among the nation's busiest reconstruction contractors, according to BD+C's Giants 300 report
A ranking of the Top 75 Reconstruction Contractors based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants
| Aug 11, 2010
SSOE, Fluor among nation's largest industrial building design firms
A ranking of the Top 75 Industrial Design Firms based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants
| Aug 11, 2010
Best AEC Firms of 2011/12
Later this year, we will launch Best AEC Firms 2012. We’re looking for firms that create truly positive workplaces for their AEC professionals and support staff. Keep an eye on this page for entry information. +
| Aug 11, 2010
Manitoba Hydro Place, Tornado Tower among world's 'best tall buildings,' according to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat
The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat last week announced the winners of its annual “Best Tall Building” awards for 2009, recognizing one outstanding tall building from each of four geographical regions: Americas, Asia & Australia, Europe, and Middle East & Africa. This year’s winners are: Manitoba Hydro Place, Winnipeg, Canada; Linked Hybrid, Beijing, China; The Broadgate Tower, London, UK; Tornado Tower, Doha, Qatar.
| Aug 11, 2010
Call for entries: Building enclosure design awards
The Boston Society of Architects and the Boston chapter of the Building Enclosure Council (BEC-Boston) have announced a High Performance Building award that will assess building enclosure innovation through the demonstrated design, construction, and operation of the building enclosure.
| Aug 11, 2010
CampusBrands Inc., NYLO Hotels team to launch student housing franchise brand
Which would you choose: the cramped quarters, thin mattresses, and crowded communal bathrooms of dormitory life or a new type of student housing with comfortable couches, a game room, fitness center, Wi-Fi in every room, flat-screen televisions and maybe even a theater?
| Aug 11, 2010
Perkins Eastman awarded Indian School of Business campus
The New York office of international design and architecture firm Perkins Eastman has been commissioned by the Indian School of Business for a 70-acre, 1.5 million-sf new business school campus as part of a 300-acre “Knowledge City” in Chandigarh, Mohali, India. The sustainable campus will accommodate four centers of excellence: healthcare management, public policy, manufacturing/ operations, and physical infrastructure management.
| Aug 11, 2010
Portland Cement Association offers blast resistant design guide for reinforced concrete structures
Developed for designers and engineers, "Blast Resistant Design Guide for Reinforced Concrete Structures" provides a practical treatment of the design of cast-in-place reinforced concrete structures to resist the effects of blast loads. It explains the principles of blast-resistant design, and how to determine the kind and degree of resistance a structure needs as well as how to specify the required materials and details.
| Aug 11, 2010
Harvard Law School Wood-Framed Houses
Cambridge, Mass.
A century ago, majestic Victorian homes lined Massachusetts Avenue in Boston, but few of these grande dames still survive. Harvard Law School owned three such beauties, which they used for office and research space. Unfortunately, the houses occupied prime real estate on which the school planned to build a new academic center. Rather than raze the historic wood-frame homes, the law school made it a priority to repurpose them.