Lone Star College Energy and Manufacturing Institute

The 70,000-square-foot Engineering and Manufacturing Institute for Lone Star College is designed to take advantage of typical suburban office park construction typologies to provide an integrated classroom and lab space. The structure serves as a new front to the community college, opening accessibility from the street and other campus buildings. To elevate the design of typical tilt-up construction, elements were incorporated such as zinc details and a micro textured formliner capturing the linearity of the loblolly pines. Tilt-up is joined with 'Lift' wall and 'Cast' wall to create thresholds and highlight the public entry and teaching. Tilt and lift wall is also used at the site's interior and allows visual and physical connections between the classroom and lab. Interior tilt-up panels define the lobby space and function as structure for the monumental stair. The project was also recognized with a 2014 AIA Houston Design Award.