Ushering in New Era of Science Research

Page joined an audience of The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) students, college administrators, legislators and others in cheering the ribbon cutting for the new Science Engineering Innovation Research (SEIR) building. Vistasp Karbhari, president of UTA, summed up the 229,206 square foot facility, saying, “This building exemplifies UTA today and in the future – bold, collaborative, innovative.”

The university tasked the project team with delivering a structure that would help them attract and prepare the next generation of leaders in health and science in engineering, science, nursing and health research. It also needed to serve as a home for the North Texas Genome Center, a collaborative venture between multiple universities, medical centers and corporate partners for genomics and high throughput sequencing.

The final result is a modern glass and steel building that creates a new, iconic southern entry to the UTA campus. Inside, an innovative “science on display” design utilizes interior glass walls that allow research to be viewed in progress, raising awareness and interest in work underway. Twelve research lab neighborhoods encourage multidisciplinary activity and the classroom wing seats 900 students.

Mattia Flabiano III, one of the project’s lead architects, explained that collaboration was a key component of both the design intent and process. The building was designed to encourage collaboration between research departments, and the project team worked closely with faculty to accomplish that. 

Page designed The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) Science and Engineering Innovation and Research (SEIR) building in collaboration with ZGF Architects. Construction of the Texas limestone, steel-and-glass structure was managed by AECOM Hunt.