Project Spotlight: Houston Community College Katy Expansion

Houston Community College (HCC) saw its Katy campus reach enrollment capacity after the population of Katy, Texas doubled in size over the past decade. No longer able to meet the needs of the growing community, HCC needed to construct a new campus. Located off Interstate 10 and Grand Parkway, the new three-story, 120,000 square-foot building provides updated state-of-the-art facilities for the increased enrollment capacity of 7,000 students.

HCC included several cutting-edge amenities in the new buildings design to ensure students were well-equipped for success. The building provides traditional classrooms, Learning Commons area, open library, advanced science labs, student services, event space, offices, tutoring and study spaces, and testing center. Labs for art, design and digital media are also available for students and include a One Button video production studio and mini-makerspace creativity room with 3-D printing. Glass wall partitions act as a functional design feature to allow areas to be reconfigured for various functions such as classes, presentations and special events.

The project wasn’t without its unique set of challenges. Normally a project of this size takes around 18 months to complete, however S&P was tasked with completing construction in only 12 months. To ensure the project was completed on time, S&Ps onsite superintendent maintained a detailed schedule and project flow process with P6 software. Managing the compressed schedule was further complicated when procurement delays occurred due to supply chain and logistics issues caused by the COVID 19 pandemic. Due to delivery dates and lead times changing daily, the S&P team held weekly meetings to provide three-week look-ahead schedules and inform all trades of any schedule updates or changes. In the end S&P was proud to complete the construction of HCC Katy on time and with a perfect safety record.

The project won the ABC Houston Chapter Excellence in Construction ICE Award and went on to receive the ABC National Excellence in Construction Eagle Award.