UT School of Nursing and Student Center

Photo credit: Henny van Dijk, Graphics Communications Group

Land Use & Community

When it was time to expand the University of Texas Health Science Center's Houston School of Nursing, limited sites were available on the heavily developed Texas Medical Center campus. Rather than develop a distant, greenfield site, the University decided to redevelop a small, underbuilt site adjacent to Fay Park and within the heart of the Medical Center campus.

The addition of this eight-story building strengthens the overall Medical Center complex at a prime corner location, allowing students, faculty, and visitors access to the existing infrastructure while eliminating the need for building duplicate infrastructure elsewhere. The Texas Medical Center as a whole has historically suffered from a lack of overall master planning driven by the absence of planning regulations in the City of Houston. The new facility is part of a renewed effort to add coherence to the complex and to protect against future flood damage as occurred in the massive flood of 2001 from tropical storm Alison.

The site is located within a short distance of multiple bus lines and a light-rail line, and the increased density supports these alternative modes of transportation as well as pedestrian activity between adjacent facilities.

The building design creates a positive edge to Fay Park, which is the only park in this area of the Medical Center. Fay Park addresses two critical needs: positive community space and shaded outdoor space. Public features of the building, such as a café and bookstore, are especially well suited for the community outreach role this facility satisfies.

The site is a part of a larger campus and, as such, requires some convenient parking; 29 surface parking spaces were built on site for the new facility. This represents a significant reduction from the 129 spaces required by the City of Houston’s ordinance for higher-education facilities. The remainder of the parking is handled as part of the Medical Center’s overall parking complex that uses multiple large parking garages and minimal surface parking.

Light trespass leaving the site is reduced through the use of directed and shielded exterior fixtures. The building's contribution to the urban heat-island effect is minimized through planted portions of the building's roof.

Twelve percent of the building population uses transit options other than the single-occupancy vehicle, and 0.04 parking spaces are provided per person.

Green Strategies

• Property Evaluation
  • Assess property for integration with local community and regional transportation corridors
• Responsible Planning
  • Ensure that development fits within a responsible local and regional planning framework
• Properties with Excessive Impacts
  • Avoid contributing to sprawl
• Support for Appropriate Transportation
  • Provide access to public transportation
• Property Selection Opportunities
  • Look for opportunities for infill development

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Our thanks to the ENERGY STAR program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and to the U.S. Department of Energy, and to BuildingGreen, Inc. for hosting the submission and judging forms.

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