Completed 2001

This classroom/laboratory/office building for the downtown campus of the University of Texas at San Antonio was designed to respect the campus master plan updated by Ford, Powell & Carson. The Durango Building is part of a two-building complex that includes an innovative semi-recessed parking garage. Recessing the bulk of the garage below grade maintained the dramatic vista of the university towards downtown San Antonio.

The Durango Building respects the materials used in the existing buildings on site and deliberately tones down the geometries deployed in the existing buildings. The Durango Building is layered both programmatically and visually, utilizing Colorado red stone at the base, Vetters limestone for the intermediate two levels, and primarily glass for the upper office floor.

The visual impact of the adjacent garage is reduced, softened and enhanced by the addition of shading trellises on the upper deck. The resulting patterns of light and shade lend a rich texture to the facade, which mediates the effects of the South Texas sun.

The Durango Building and the parking garage were designed as part of a design/build project. The building was substantially completed in July of 2001.