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.

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.