JQ Completes Structural Engineering Work on UT Dallas’ Largest Parking Structure
Date Posted: Aug 29, 2016
Location: Dallas, Texas
JQ has substantially completed its structural engineering engagement on The University of Texas at Dallas’ (UT Dallas) Parking Structure IV (PS4) that opened on the first day of classes this semester.
Located on the west side of campus, the new $25.5 MM facility will serve the needs of students, faculty, staff and visitors. The 392,000 gross sf project is a stand-alone, five-story, cast-in-place post-tensioned garage that includes three signature garage entrances with elevator cores and stairs. The entire structure is clad in an exterior skin incorporating a wave design into the scrim. With 1,150 parking spaces, the new structure is expected to have a building life expectancy of 50 to 75 years.
The PS4 project team included architect HKS, Inc., and general contractor SpawGlass. The owner was represented by Dr. Dayle Pettus, Project Manager II, and Thomas Lund, Senior Project Manager, with The University of Texas System, as well as Dr. Calvin Jamison, Vice President for Administration, Robert Fishbein, Assistant Vice President of Auxiliary Services, Richard Dempsey, P.E., Associate Vice President for Facilities Management, and Thea Junt, LEED AP BD+C, Associate Director for Energy Conservation and Sustainability, with UT Dallas.
According to JQ principal Barry K. Krieger, PE, MLE, “Although this parking structure presented numerous engineering challenges related to sloping grades, exterior skin, elevator cores, and funding for building and road work in separate packages, the visual impact is remarkable. We enjoy working with the UT Dallas project team members and look forward to future collaborations.”
The parking structure is one of several construction projects currently planned or in-progress at the university campus for which JQ has been retained based on the firm’s engineering expertise. Other structural engineering work in progress includes the Callier Richardson addition with 50,000 sf of new space; the Student Housing Phase VI project with 206,000 sf; and Student Housing Phase VII project with 127,000 sf. Combined Phases VI and VII will add a total of 800 new beds on campus by the fall of 2017. Says Krieger, “We are also in the design phase of work on a new 200,000 sf engineering building scheduled for completion in fall 2018, and our civil engineers are finalizing work on the 68,000 sf Student Services Building addition slated for completion this November.”
JQ has been working with UT Dallas since 2000.