Project Spotlight: UT Jesse Jones Hall School of Law Faculty Offices

Standing six stories tall on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin, the 180,000 square-foot Jesse H. Jones Hall serves as the home of the School of Law. Faced with a shortage of faculty space, the university took the opportunity to completely redesign the massive concrete structure. The vision for this renovation was ambitious: to transform the dark, cavernous structure into a bright, modern sanctuary that would not only meet spatial needs but also elevate productivity. 

To infuse the hall with light, an additional 12 skylights, 10 large windows and an atrium were added between the top two floors of the building. Elevators and stairwells between the different floors also required sections of the concrete walls and flooring to be cutout. Combating the space shortage required a complete reset of three floors and resulted in their demolition and rebuild making way for new classrooms, conference rooms, workrooms, offices, reading areas, support areas, and a computer lab for the school. In comparison, the library was a much simpler fix. Bookshelves were reconfigured to create additional reading and study spaces for students. The renovation also included MEP upgrades throughout the entire building.  

Further complicating the build, Jesse H. Jones Hall remained open to students and faculty throughout the renovation providing the unique challenge of keeping construction from interfering with the regular activities. The library, taking up a large portion of the space, required the team to put noise conditions in place where demolition or noise-producing work having to be scheduled after school hours.  

Debris removal and material distribution required the utilization of a ground-to-roof 5,000 lbs. exterior man/material lift to keep construction activities away from the building’s occupants. The lift aided in safely removing over 100 tons of concrete without a single injury, which helped the project receive a perfect safety record with no lost-time accidents. 

The project went on to receive the following awards: ENR Texas – Louisiana Best Renovation/Restoration Project Award of Merit, AIA TAP Building Information Modeling Award Honorable Mention, ABC Excellence in Construction Merit Award in the Institutional Publicly Funder Under $25 Million category.