Dallas, TX (12 October 2011) – An opening ceremony was held for the new Visitor Center and University Bookstore at The University of Texas at Dallas (UT Dallas) in Richardson, Texas, on 28 September 2011. The new building, designed by PageSoutherlandPage, is part of a larger recent effort by UT Dallas to create a more welcoming “front door” approach and to establish a stronger identity for the campus. It is intended to work closely with recently completed landscape improvements which create a new gateway and orientation point for the campus.

Functions accommodated in the building include retail enterprises such as the bookstore, tech store, cafe and copy shop as well as an ample recreation/multipurpose room dedicated to student activities.  A large visitor's center serves as the primary greeting and orientation point for prospective students, families and others coming to the campus from outside the university community.

Because the building sits in a position on the campus where many people pass through on their way from parking to the main mall, a long concourse with generous clerestory light has been created to celebrate that movement.  Entries to all major functions open off the concourse and are marked by strong color that contrasts with the black/white/grey palette of the rest of the building.

An iconic circular tower in the building echoes the circle in the landscape as well as reflecting the rotunda of the existing School of Management on the opposite side of the campus entry. The circular tower is an open, unconditioned space for informal gathering and acts as a welcoming gesture both for the campus and the building.  The tower’s stack ventilation—controlled by curved glass containment, its concentric rings of sunshades and its huge fan—will help keep it temperate in the hot Texas climate.

Both in terms of its functions and its key location the new Visitor Center and University Bookstore plays a transformative role on the UT Dallas campus.  It creates a fresh new image for the campus in concert with the Peter Walker landscape plan, and it provides much needed spaces for enhanced student life.

PageSoutherlandPage provided planning, programming, architecture, design, MEP engineering and contract administration for the VCB, which was constructed by Turner Construction Company. PageSoutherlandPage team members included Lawrence Speck, FAIA; Mattia Flabiano III, AIA; W. Dee Maxey, AIA; Britt C. Feik, AIA; Robert May, AIA; Lindsey Leah Brigati, AIA; Devlin Jackson; Crystal McMahon; Will Butler; Yanghee Pierce, RA, LEED AP; Marie Hemphill, RID, LEED AP; Alan Corley, PE; E. Lynn Broyles, PE; Frank Gallegos, PE; Robbie Hedrick; Eddy Lamb, ASPE; Bill Hueter, PE; Dale Robinson, PE; Dale Romano; Joe Cruz; John Mehl and Kyle Wood.

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