Grad students develop designs for new Texas A&M health center

Graduate Texas A&M [architecture] (http://dept.arch.tamu.edu/graduate/master-architecture/) students created a variety of design concepts for a new College Station campus health center to serve an enrollment [projected] (http://www.txhighereddata.org/index.cfm?objectid=B43B85A2-FD90-4E5F-C559520EABC5D228) by the state to reach 70,000 students by 2025.

The seven students, who participated in an architecture-for-health studio led by George J. Mann, professor of architecture, will present their unique student health center designs 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. Dec. 8, 2016, in Room A 402 of the Langford Architecture Center (ARCA).

In researching the project, Mann said his students looked at the size, staffing levels and parking provisions of student healthcare facilities at other universities. Among their findings, the students determined that the location of Texas A&M’s current student healthcare facility, the A.P. Beutel Health Center, did not allow space for expansion.

Most of the students opted to locate the new facility on West Campus, near Reed Arena, which is used as a regional disaster center.

The students’ design explorations for a new student medical facility provided clinics for obstetrics and gynecology, ear, nose and throat ailments, ultrasound and x-ray imaging, and allergy injections, as well as a pharmacy, helipad, laboratories, and space for mental health treatment.

The designs incorporate sustainable elements such as solar panels and rainwater collectors for irrigating the grounds. The buildings are oriented to minimize heat transfer from the Texas sun.

Mann, the Ronald L. Skaggs, FAIA Professor of Health Facilities Design, was assisted by architecture faculty Koichiro Aitani, Brian Gibbs and Michael O'Brien. Additional guidance was provided by Ronald Skaggs, chairman emeritus of [HKS, Inc] (http://www.hksinc.com) ., and Joseph Sprague, principal and senior vice president at HKS.

Since established in 1966, students in Mann’s architecture-for-health studio have undertaken more than 800 projects all over the world.