UTEP InterdiSciplinary Research Building (iDBR)
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The University of Texas at El Paso's new Interdisciplinary Research Building is a five-story, with 153,899 SF facility that In*Situ collaborated on with Perkins and Will, who served as the Architect of Record. In*Situ collaborated on design throughout the project with Perkins + Will and served as the local lead during construction.
The new Interdisciplinary Research Building functions as a high-tech research facility consistent with peer university models. This new research building comprises three buildings, a new landmark at one of the main entrances into the university. This new state-of-the art facility houses a live animal vivarium, open wet and dry labs, collaborative spaces on each floor, doctorate research facilities, classrooms, a 100 seat flat floor flexible auditorium, hi-tech video conferencing rooms, Visualization Suite as well as a visitor's center and café area. The building's parti is comprised of an "L" shaped serial from contrasting large "neighborhood" laboratory volumes and smaller collaboration/social nodes. These smaller highly transparent nodes, coupled with an openness afforded by the complex's orientation to the courtyard, provide a balanced solution to mitigating formal language and desired transparency. The exterior aesthetic was influenced by the Bhutanese vocabulary defined by the University of Texas at El Paso campus master plan since 1917. The IDRB follows the campus vernacular with low sloped roofs, battered stone walls, and fortress-like fenestrations. The architectural vocabulary offers students, faculty, staff, and visitors the beauty and serenity of its Bhutanese origins in a modern, state-of-the art facility. |
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