Prairie View A&M University Science Building

The Science Building is comprised of a four-story lab building housing the Biology, Chemistry and Physics departments, each having its own floor. Attached is a one-story element consisting of a 250-seat auditorium and two lecture halls. In addition to teaching and research labs, the facility includes a greenhouse, darkroom, computer lab, NMR room and XPS room.

The administration's goal was to build a science building for the 21^st century; a facility with state-of-the-art teaching technology. The building is wired for the latest, as well as future, teaching technologies with each lab, conference room, classroom, and most offices having access to both the building LAN and the university networks including voice, video, and data.

Each lab contains four flat screen monitors with the capability to display 35-mm slides, overhead transparencies, data, local video programs (including microscopic images), and external video programs. External video programs can be from central headend, cable TV satellite programs, or remote programs (compressed video).

Energy management systems include HVAC and lighting controlled by EMS (Energy Management System), a direct digital control system. The laboratories have LCS (Laboratory Control System) to maintain constant face velocity for each fume hood and varies exhaust airflow based on fume hood sash position. By reducing the exhaust airflow rate based on fume hood sash opening and night and weekend setback, energy use is decreased by reducing the amount of make-up air that is required.

Key planning concepts to save money and maximize usable floor area include a double-loaded, loop corridor and eliminating the need for a service corridor by manifolding the exhaust ducts into vertical chases. This arrangement also provides most labs with daylight.

Although the building is planned for maximum efficiency and functionality, the administration wanted the building to have its own identity. This was accomplished with a "light tower" stairwell, which serves as an orientation icon on the campus, and a curved parapet running the length of the building, which conceals the equipment on the roof and gives the building its unique profile.

Project Information

Building Owner:

Texas A&M University System

Owner Contact:

Phil Haas

Building Location:

Prairie View, TX UNITED STATES

Project Type:

New Construction

Principal Building Function:

Science Building

Project Timeline

Jan 1997	Planning Start
Sep 1997	Design Start
Feb 1999	Construction Start
Aug 2000	Completion
Last known status: Completed

Project Cost:

$28,000,000

Construction Cost:

$23,000,000

Cost Per Sq. Ft:

$132

About These Cost Figures

Building Information

Project Includes:

Auditorium
Biology
Chemistry
Computers
Education
Education: Classroom
Education: Physics
Greenhouse
Laboratory: Research
Laboratory: Teaching
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance
Office

Total GSF:

174,500

Total NSF:

98,500

Efficiency:

56%

Building Services:

DI, N2, compressed air, vacuum

Special Equip:

Incubators, cold rooms, atomic absorption spectrophotometer, autoclaves, dishwash, electron microscopes, HEPA air filtering, NMR room, XPS room

Power Req:

9.7 w/nsf

HVAC Req:

.83 cfm/nsf

Structure/Foundation:

Concrete frame with bell footings

Laboratory Parameters

Casework Mat'l:

White epoxy tops with wood

Fume Hoods:

60 @ 6' wide; two laminar flow and three isotope fume hoods

Biosafety Cabinets:

5 Class II

Project Team

Architect

3D International, Inc.

Builder

Vaughn Construction

Consultant - Accoustical/AV

WJHW Inc.

Consultant - Civil Engineer

Landtech Consultants

Consultant - MEP Engineer

Shah, Smith & Associates

Consultant - Structural Engineer

Haynes Whaley Associates

Profile Created 03/31/2001

Last Updated 04/04/2006

About the Reported Cost Figures

The cost figures reported are supplied by the firms that submitted these projects for publication, which in most cases are the designers or builders. Whereas these sources are intimately familiar with their projects, they may not be fully aware of the owners' finally-realized and recorded costs. In some cases, costs are truly and completely accounted for, and in others they represent a near approximation of the final costs. Costs have not been adjusted for year of construction, nor has any attempt been made to make regional cost adjustments.

Further, costs are not comparable on any kind of detailed standard costing model. Hence, it is possible for the cost of one building to include a steam boiler, while the cost of a comparable building might not include the boiler, if steam is being supplied from an already existing campus grid. Or, in another case, a building might include excess boiler capacity to supply steam to another building. Some submittals include fees or unusual site improvements as part of the construction costs, which others do not.

Fig. 1

Prairie View Exterior