The University of Texas at Arlington School of Social Work and Smart Hospital Building

Overview

The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) completed a $76 million School of Social Work and Smart Hospital Building, revolutionizing healthcare education.

Sitting on 4 levels and 150,000 square feet, this building is a state-of-the-art space that will serve current and future University of Arlington (UTA) students. This technology-enriched facility combines learning spaces, teaching and research laboratories, a smart hospital simulation learning center, student engagement, study and support areas, and faculty and staff offices. Additionally, training space with mock patient rooms and medical robots showcasing the technological advancements that differentiate this campus building from its competitors. 

Our Approach

This project took place on an active university campus, where student traffic posed ongoing challenges throughout construction. To accommodate the environment, the project team reworked the main power utilities to provide temporary power, maintaining uninterrupted service to an existing university building.

Unexpected site conditions required underground utilities to be installed 14 feet below grade — a unique challenge that allowed our team to showcase agility and innovation. Existing duct banks had to be rerouted and coordinated, complicating installation. In response, our field teams successfully installed intricate duct banks to support electrical secondaries, emergency generator feeds, and primary telecommunications raceways.

We also contributed to evaluating lighting control systems, distribution techniques, selective coordination of the distribution system, site duct-bank routing, and fixture selection. Additional electrical installations included fixtures, lighting branches, controls, power devices, floor outlets, branch power, equipment power and connections, and lightning protection.

Result

Completed in January 2023, the project team maintained a stellar safety record on this project, achieving 1 year and 9 months of 0 recordables, with over 62,000 employee hours worked. Upon completion, this facility ushered in critical advancements in healthcare education, and is utilized to teach and train the next generation of social workers and healthcare professionals.

This project was completed by Brandt, a Southland Industries company.