UTD Sciences Building

The sciences building houses classrooms, offices and teaching and research labs for the UTD Department of Physics. Previously, the department was scattered across eight campus locations so the new structure provides a greatly improved collaborative environment. The 186,000 square foot L-shaped facility is composed of two wings. For the north laboratory wing Datum studied various framing options and zoned in a wide pan joist system at labs and collaboration areas and a flat plate at the north utility corridor to maximize mechanical plenum. The wing is 6 levels tall, plus a basement. The upper levels are connected by a series of beautiful exposed concrete stairs that stagger along the south face of the wing. In the classroom wing, two transfer girders allow column free space for the 150-seat and the 300-seat lecture halls at ground floor. At the intersection of the two wings, a two-story portal entrance to the interior courtyard is framed using seven exposed, round concrete columns with elegant reveals. Its 35-ft-tall columns support two floor levels using steel instead of concrete. This decision allowed us to eliminate the expense of having two-level-tall shoring which would have been required for a concrete-framed scheme.