JonesDBR worked with Kirksey + Lake|Flato on the new University of Texas at San Antonio Student Housing Complex. JonesDBR provided MEP, Communication and Security engineering services for the design and construction the building with two four-story wings totaling approximately 185,000 sq. ft. which includes 618 beds, along with common areas and support spaces. Design for an emergency generator system was included to serve the interior and exterior egress lighting.
Organized around individual courtyards, the wings reinforce the campus vernacular as expressed by the campus Master Plan while establishing a new precedent for the campus material palette. A centrally located Commons Pavilion connects the two residential wings and harkens back to the original campus modernist design and material palette. Housing meeting and activity rooms, security, a community kitchen, computer lab and resident hall support spaces, the Commons Pavilion serves as both the front door to the facility and an anchor for the future Residential quadrangle as proposed by the Master Plan.
The site is challenged with an existing network of utilities that cross the site. The design creatively integrates storm water and other utilities to control cost while anticipating future campus growth.