Design Guidelines - Architectural Design

Academic Building Organization

The floor levels of new academic buildings should match the floor levels of the adjacent existing buildings. These established vertical heights should be maintained in order to continue the vertical campus grid and so that upper levels of buildings may be connected by bridges. The vertical organization of existing campus buildings should be applied to new buildings:

• First Level: Vehicular traffic and building services
• Second Level: Pedestrian circulation, large classrooms, and lecture halls
• Third Level: Classrooms and laboratories; some bridge connections between buildings
• Fourth Level: Laboratories, faculty and administration offices
• Additional: Laboratories, faculty and administration offices (if applicable)

This organizational system separates vehicular traffic at the first level from the paseo level above. Faculty and administration offices were originally placed at the top floor in part because locating teaching spaces at lower levels reduced the need for elevators and shortened the time required to travel from class to class. There has been much discussion at UTSA regarding the appropriate location for faculty offices. It has been suggested that offices should be interspersed throughout the building. Others prefer the original concept. The final decision about the location of offices should be made on a case-by-case basis during the programming phase of a new building. Major lecture halls, however, should be located at the paseo level to reduce the need for additional stairway exits and to minimize the travel time between classes.

New buildings located north of the Business Building and the Humanities and Social Sciences Building may not have a full first level because the hill rises up in this area. Buildings located south of the Engineering Building may have an additional floor included at the base because the hill drops away. With a few exceptions, the parapet height of the original buildings should be set as the typical maximum height of new buildings in the campus core. Sloped roofs may be located above the parapet height, but the roof’s leading edge should be set back from the parapet. Should a building program require additional area, a partial fifth floor or mechanical penthouse may be added.

Buildings located to the east of the Main Building and UTSA Creek should be developed with the same vertical organization of the original campus. A pedestrian paseo level will be located one floor above grade along much of the East Paseo, with building services located beneath. Academic buildings should have two additional floors built above the paseo level, but science and research buildings may be taller so long as low-volume uses are located on the top floors.

New buildings and additions should maintain the thirty-foot campus planning grid. Structural bays are to be set as multiples of a thirty-foot grid, though forty-five foot intervals are also acceptable. The five-foot planning module should also be evident from the building elevation. Paseos are typically sixty feet wide.

Building Relationship to Open Space

New buildings are meant to define and enhance the paseo system with the goal of creating unique identities for each paseo. New buildings should never block or terminate a paseo. New construction must maintain the integrity of the relationship between building height to open space width as follows:

• At paseos, there should be a 1:1 to a 1:1.33 ratio.
• At plazas and larger courtyards, there should be a 1:2 to a 1:4 ratio.

Most original buildings were rectangular or composed of rectangular elements. The footprint of a building should be established on grounds of functionality. Recent buildings have been more complex in form. The form of new buildings should be rectangular or composed of rectangular elements. Subdivisions of rectangles with wings making an "L," "H," "T," or "U" shape are allowed, but the building should define a view corridor and not erode it. Circulation devices such as arcades, entries, bridges and gallerias may be used to further define the building geometry. Small modulations of the rectangular form that provide visual interest and yet maintain a strong relationship to the paseos are desirable. Additional modulation and detail at entries and special areas are encouraged, but they must not deviate from the established architectural vocabulary of the campus.

Roof Articulation

The predominant building pattern at the 1604 Campus utilizes low-slope built-up roofs. Recently, three new buildings have been approved that will have sloped roofs clad with either flat clay tiles or metal panels. In order to visually unite the two types of buildings, academic buildings that are as tall as the existing buildings must match the parapet height of the existing building. The base of sloped roofs should start at this height, and the roof edge must be set back behind the parapet. No overhangs are allowed. Buildings with unique functions, like concert halls, are exceptions to this rule, and their roof shape is reviewed under "Specialized Buildings," below.

Facade Organization

Buildings four or more stories in height should be subdivided into a base, body, and top. This delineation may be accomplished through changes in building plane, differentiation in material, or both. Buildings around the Sombrilla have a three-story presence. They are divided into base and body. The base is articulated by an arcade, and the two floors above are detailed similarly to one another. This organization is also acceptable.

Some expression of the building structure must be apparent from the façade. Both stone and unit masonry clad buildings should delineate structural columns by the application of stone or unit masonry piers or by the modulation of the wall plane, or should suggest a masonry vocabulary of openings that relates to the building's structure. Window openings in masonry walls should be organized by the structural system, either in continuous openings or by combinations of smaller openings within the bays.

Precast concrete panels or poured-in-place concrete should be detailed to reflect the building structure or an implied division of the structural grid.

Horizontal window openings should not extend uninterrupted for lengths that exceed the length of the structural bay without an implicit expression of the supporting structure.

Glazing Shape/Size

The use of windows promotes campus vitality. Windows allow people on the outside to be connected to activities within, while providing interest for people inside. At night, windows allow interior activities to illuminate and animate the public spaces outside and also provide a sense of security.

Natural light may be appropriate for many teaching uses, and when combined with blinds or curtains, classrooms may still have enough flexibility for computer or projection use. Glazing is very important along arcades and at building entries. Offices located at the exterior should have windows whenever possible. Skylights help animate the interior of a building by providing natural light and color. They create an element of visual activity on the roof that can be seen on the skyline. Used as an icon or marker, a skylight system can help give the campus identity and texture.

The original buildings have been perceived as not having enough glass. Some of the newer buildings have more glass than the originals. The windows of the Business Building average 21 percent of the wall surface. New buildings should have a glazing area that comprises between 20 to 33 percent of the wall surface.

Individual panes of glass must be vertical or square. Window units may be linked together with a mullion system of painted metal or masonry. Large horizontal masonry openings can be achieved through the connection of many lites of glazing. Skylights should be constructed from vertically oriented planes of glass and should be illuminated so that they may be seen both night and day.

Arcades

Arcades set within the building footprint at the paseo level provide shelter from sun and rain and create opportunities for academic enrichment. Where possible, the inside wall of the arcade should have more windows than were used in some of the earlier buildings. Windows provide animation and give feelings of security. Opaque walls should be washed with warm light. Lighting design should emulate the improvements recommended for the original arcades as outlined in the 1997 UTSA Exterior Lighting Standards. Bright colors, as defined by these guidelines, may be applied to plaster ceilings to give the building an individual identity. Art may be used to promote the academic specialty of the building or campus iconography. The arcade should help pedestrians locate and access entries.

Bridges

Painted steel or poured-in-place concrete bridges provide shelter for the paseos below, create visual interest, and make circulation easier. Their use in connecting existing and future structures is strongly encouraged.

Gallerias

Gallerias are an enclosed extension of the exterior circulation system. They must have natural daylight through skylights or clerestories and should have lighting that creates the sense of daylight during evening hours of operation. These multi-floored spaces should be designed to provide a feeling of security, should create places for users to congregate, should have a personal identity, and may be used to reduce the apparent scale of a large new building. In general, gallerias are thirty feet wide.

Entries

Entries should be logically placed to relate to building function and must be clearly recognizable by users. They must be open and inviting, well lit, and should provide a sense of security. The scale of building entries must be proportioned to clearly identify their location and importance while maintaining a human-scale relationship. This requires that multi-story entries must have single-story element sets within. The entry may be used as an organizing tool for the entire façade, and may also be referenced by a feature such as a balcony at a higher floor.

Energy Considerations

Building shading should be accomplished within the constraints of the architectural vocabulary. Passive solar shading is useful for many reasons. It helps to conserve energy, animates buildings and adjoining public spaces, and may create additional opportunities for clear glass. Passive shading should be achieved by the use of deep set windows shaded by the building frame, by architectural projection, or by the addition of sunscreens. Sunscreen frames and supports should be fabricated from galvanized and painted steel or fluoropolymer-coated aluminum with interior slatted shades made of mill finish exterior grade stainless steel or hot-dipped galvanized steel. Due to the rotation of the campus grid, shading devices should be considered for all façades of the building.

Mechanical Equipment

Roof-mounted mechanical equipment and vent stack pipes should be grouped together and screened from all views on campus. Taller equipment should be enclosed by walls or grilles that are in harmony with the design of the building and provide for the required air circulation needs of the equipment. The enclosure should be composed as an element of the architectural design. Microwave dishes and antennas must be fully concealed if located on the building. Site-mounted equipment such as fuel tanks, emergency generators, and trash dumpsters should be screened by appropriate masonry enclosures or concealed fully by year-round plantings. Electrical and communication boxes should not be placed near dumpsters or traffic areas where they are subject to damage. Wall-mounted air supply and exhaust grilles must be located and sized to respect the masonry vocabulary of the building. Continuous horizontal grilles in masonry openings should not extend uninterrupted for lengths that exceed the structural bay without an implicit expression of the supporting structure.

Air-handling system fresh air intake grilles should not be placed near trash dumpsters, loading docks, service drives or emergency generator exhausts. Mechanical design should place building air exhaust and laboratory exhausts away from fresh air intake locations so that the exhaust is not pulled back into the building. Laboratory exhaust stacks should be clustered together when possible, should be kept away from building edges, and should be painted a muted grey color in order to blend with the sky.

Geometric Building Features

Rounded or geometric building features must respect the fabric of the campus. Materials must match those typically used on façades.