UT Dallas Builds Tech Hub for ATEC Program

RICHARDSON, Texas — The University of Texas at Dallas (UT Dallas) dedicated the Edith O’Donnell Arts and Technology Building on Nov. 7, more than two years after construction began in summer 2011.

The university needed a building with an open design that could meet the demands of fast-changing technology, and the 155,000-square-foot facility does just that. It houses programs in visual arts, emerging media technology and multimedia communications, as well as a 1,200-seat lecture hall. Designed to achieve LEED Silver, it serves as a technology hub for the Arts and Technology (ATEC) program, combining the innovation process of artists, scientists and engineers.

“The goal was to build a building that was very flexible and adaptable to the change in technology and was a showcase for the visual arts, and we were able to obtain that in this building in the heart of our campus,” said Calvin D. Jamison, Ed.D., UT Dallas vice president for administration.

The $66 million facility was designed by San Francisco-based Studios Architecture (known for designing the tech-savvy Google headquarters in Mountain View, Calif.) The building is set in the middle of campus, adjacent to the library and facing the mall and reflecting pools. It features classrooms for game design, sound design and visual arts, conference rooms, 2-D drawing and painting art studios, 3-D art studios and fabrication, a recording studio and photography labs.

“Designed for game design, sound design and the visual arts, it’s a pretty comprehensive entity that’s going to bring together the best of the arts and the best of technology,” Jamison said. “There’s a lot of public space offering for collaboration. It’s an iconic building on campus; you can’t miss it.”

Dr. Dennis Kratz, dean of the School of Arts and Humanities, said the building design has open public spaces and window views along its perimeter. “It’s a departure from the usual building layout with offices and classrooms surrounding the perimeter,” he said in a statement. “We wanted to move the offices to the center of the building and make the perimeter a showcase for our students’ work.”

Jamison said the major challenge was building a facility that could accommodate the unique disciplines that would now be integrated and one that was flexible enough to allow for future research spaces. A number of meetings were held to obtain information and feedback from faculty and students in order to construct a building that would have the appropriate technology and research facilities required by the ATEC program.

“Feedback allowed us to bring together faculty and students as well as other schools to put this whole process together, so the building reflects that,” Jamison said. “It’s a free-flowing building and has unique characteristics that allows for creative and collaborative research as well as teaching. And how the light cuts in allows for more collaborative space opportunities.”

The building is named after philanthropist Edith O’Donnell and her husband Peter, who created the O’Donnell Foundation, which has contributed more than $600 million to support scientific research and education in America over the last 30 years.

“The O’Donnells have been committed to the development of UT Dallas’ academic programs throughout the university’s history,” said Dr. Hobson Wildenthal, executive vice president and provost, in a statement. “Their support has been transformative and has contributed greatly to our success as a rising national research institution. To name this building for Edith O’Donnell is a fitting tribute to such generous friends and partners.”