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
Office Buildings | Feb 23, 2015
The importance of quiet and the consequences of distraction
Recent work style studies show that the average knowledge worker spends 25-35% of their time doing heads-down focused work. Once thrown off track, it can take some 23 minutes for a worker to return to the original task.
University Buildings | Feb 20, 2015
Penn strengthens campus security by reviving its surrounding neighborhood
In 1996, the University of Pennsylvania’s sprawling campus in Philadelphia was in the grip of an unprecedented crime wave. But instead of walling themselves off from their surrounding neighborhoods, the school decided to support the community.
University Buildings | Feb 18, 2015
Preparing for the worst: Campus security since Virginia Tech
Seven years after the mass shootings at Virginia Tech, colleges and universities continue to shake up their emergency communications and response capabilities to shootings and other criminal threats.
University Buildings | Feb 17, 2015
BD+C exclusive: How security is influencing campus design and construction
Campus crime—whether real or perceived—presents Building Teams with more opportunities for early-stage consultation with university clients.
Architects | Feb 11, 2015
Shortlist for 2015 Mies van der Rohe Award announced
Copenhagen, Berlin, and Rotterdam are the cities where most of the shortlisted works have been built.
Higher Education | Feb 3, 2015
Integrated Learning Neighborhoods: A solution for linking student housing with the typical student experience
Just as urban housing fits into the city as a whole, student housing can be integrated into the campus network as a series of living/learning neighborhoods, write Gensler's Brian Watson and Mark McMinn.
Sponsored | | Jan 26, 2015
Arriscraft delivers wow factor for the University of Wyoming’s remarkable Marian H. Rochelle Gateway Center
The state-of-the art Marian H. Rochelle Gateway Center successfully fuses the university’s time-honored brand qualities with a leading-edge technological infrastructure.
Sponsored | Green | Jan 26, 2015
Shopping centers set their sight on solar
As part of its pledge to environmentally sound practices, real estate investment trust Macerich is implementing solar across its portfolio of 85-plus properties in 19 states.
| Jan 7, 2015
University of Chicago releases proposed sites for Obama library bid
There are two proposed sites for the plan, both owned by the Chicago Park District in Chicago’s South Side, near the university’s campus in Hyde Park, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
| Jan 6, 2015
Snøhetta unveils design proposal of the Barack Obama Presidential Center Library for the University of Hawaii
The plan by Snøhetta and WCIT Architecture features a building that appears square from the outside, but opens at one corner into a rounded courtyard with a pool, Dezeen reports.
