Dell Medical School Health Learning Building

, The University of Texas at Austin

Austin, TX

Exterior
Exterior
Study space and stairs
Atrium
Classroom
Study space
detail shot
Exterior

Page is the prime architect on all University of Texas buildings in the Medical District. In association with SLAM, Page designed the 86,570-square-foot Health Learning Building. As part of that project, a 7,000-square-foot renovation to the School of Nursing Building provides simulation laboratory space to serve the entire medical district.

The five-story Health Learning Building is a long, slender volume with massing, height and materiality all informed by the architectural character of the UT Austin campus. While the building embraces tradition, it is a clear statement of innovation and contemporary technology. Key design features include the building’s “Social Edge” expressed by a largely glass wall with a cantilevered stair that faces north. Terra-cotta colored glass interludes in that wall establish a direct connection to the terra-cotta tile roofs of the core campus. This nod to the distinctive historical buildings of UT Austin is expressed more directly with the use of solid, CNC-milled limestone walls with punched windows.

The project includes interconnected collaboration zones, a standardized patient simulation center, a full gross anatomy lab, a 150-seat Team Based Learning Classroom, a multipurpose teaching lab for organic dissections and a cutting edge media center/commons/library. The LEED gold certified building encourages occupant health and represents best sustainability practices. The daylight-filled classrooms of the future are equipped with fully interactive electronics, monitors and power sources at every seat and every lab bench.

Building Facts

  • 86,570 SF
  • Architecture, Engineering, Interiors, Consulting, Commissioning, Planning, Programming, Sustainability