Visitor Center and University Bookstore at the University of Texas at Dallas

An innovative institution in North Texas on the path to achieving Tier 1 national research university status, the University of Texas at Dallas (UT Dallas) has grown since 1969 to include 133 degree programs, with cutting-edge curricula in a variety of disciplines. UT Dallas is committed to providing some of the state’s most lauded science and engineering programs and has gained prominence for its breadth of educational paths, ranging from criminology to biomedical engineering to arts and technology. The University of Texas at Dallas Visitor Center and University Bookstore and recently completed landscape improvements have created a new gateway and orientation point for the campus. The building features an iconic rotunda that echoes a nearby large circular mound known as the landmark for the campus entry. The open, unconditioned rotunda space serves as an informal gathering area as a welcoming gesture for the campus and the building. Its stack ventilation, controlled by curved-glass containment with concentric rings of sunshades in structural steel and a huge fan, help keep the atrium temperate in the hot Texas climate. Finely detailed steel tension beams keep it light and delicate like traditional Texas porches with crisp, clean lines and strong geometries giving it a strong presence. White steel structural members and sunshades contrast sharply with dark grey modular panels of cement fiberboard, and a distinctive mottled dark grey Texas Limestone was cut to emphasize strong horizontal bands that work with the strong Texas sun to create anchor piers at prominent corners.

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