In summer 2007 iSchool faculty and staff began working with UT’s Office of Planning and Construction Services on plans to renovate new space for the iSchool at 1616 Guadalupe. The new site for the school will provide 40,000 square feet of newly renovated space that will more than double space allocated for classrooms, labs, research and student space, as well as faculty and staff offices. In addition to bringing all teaching and lab facilities of the school under one roof, 1616 Guadalupe will provide a much needed student lounge and kitchen as well as research and collaboration space for faculty and doctoral students. The new facility will have six classrooms and four seminar and conference rooms compared to four classrooms and one conference room at the Sanchez Building space. Here are renderings of the 1st floor. We will keep you updated on the progress of the renovation project and our migration to our new home.

Work on the 5th floor of 1616 where faculty, staff, and doctoral students will office is nearing completion. The space has been painted, lights and ceiling tiles are installed. The next construction phase on this floor will be the installation of carpet and the glass-wall system. The architects were correct in explaining that the use of special materials (paint, lighting, and ceiling tiles) would enhance natural light to the center of the building. Work has begun again on the first floor where classrooms, labs, and student space are to be located.

The planning team continues to meet regularly to organize details regarding parking, telephones, and security for the new space. The next meeting will be with the movers who will tour all existing iSchool spaces around campus (SZB, CDL, FAC, and PCL) to begin to plan for the move sometime in July.

Several of the iSchool staff spent part or all of the day attending meetings and doing various “walkabouts” on the 7th, 5th, and 1st floors of 1616 Guadalupe. Things are moving very quickly! The 5th floor (faculty, staff, and doctoral student offices and research labs) now has all the sheetrock up. I’ve included some pics below of faculty office space, and the IX Lab on the 5th floor.

Faculty Offices South

IX-Lab with 2-way glass

The 1st floor is framed out with sheetrock to be added soon! The entire project is progressing at a very fast pace. It won’t be anytime before we will be in the facility offering classes! Here are pictures of the preservation and conservation book and paper labs as well as the student lounge.

Student Lounge

Book & Paper Labs

Here is a construction update from 1616 Project Manager, Bart Kleiman (UT System Office of Planning and Construction Services) on work to the 1st floor of 1616 (the designated iSchool classroom and lab area.) You will note that while UT faculty and staff begin their holiday on Dec. 20th, work on the building continues.

20 Dec 08 - Concrete will be poured in the north side of the first floor to fill in a void in the concrete floor.  To prevent migration of odor, the air handling units for the entire building will be shutdown from 6:00pm Friday, 19 Dec thru 6:00am Monday, 22 Dec. We’ll post more pictures as soon as they are available.

22, 23, and 24 Dec 08 - Sheetrock ceilings will be installed and finished in the first floor elevator lobby.

22, 23, and 24 Dec 08 - The entry bay of the parking garage will be sandblasted and ADA striping painted.  Garage patrons will still be able to park in the garage above the first ramp.

24 Dec 08 - Northeast plaza will be poured.

29 and 30 Dec 08 - The first floor lobby terrazzo will be refinished in the evenings.

29 and 30 Dec 08 – Moving crates for OFPC staff will be delivered to the 6th and 7th floors.

29, 30, and 31 Dec 08 - Stainless steel will be installed in the first floor elevator lobby.

Most offices on the 5th floor will have a glass-wall system that enables the diffusion of light to the center of the floor. Although the pictures below are on the 6th floor of 1616, they exemplify the glass wall system to be installed on the 5th floor.

Here is your last opportunity to see the concrete floors on the 1st level. Demolition was completed in October 2008.