Construction started this summer on Texas Children’s Hospital for children and women in Austin. The freestanding hospital, which will serve families in Austin and Central Texas, is scheduled to be completed in the first quarter of 2024. McCarthy Building Cos. is the general contractor, and Page is the project architect.

The 52-bed, 365,000-sq-ft hospital will provide neonatal intensive care, pediatric intensive care, operating rooms, epilepsy monitoring, a sleep center, emergency center, a fetal center for advanced fetal interventions and fetal surgery with a special high-risk delivery unit, postpartum care, diagnostic imaging, acute care and an onsite Texas Children’s Urgent Care location. The hospital will have an adjacent 170,000-sq-ft outpatient building offering expert care for numerous pediatric subspecialties, including cardiology, oncology, neurology, pulmonology, gastroenterology, rheumatology care, among others.

Field Street Tower 

Developer Hillwood Urban has selected Pickard Chilton to design Field Street Tower, a 38-story office building at 2012 N. Field Street in Dallas. At 600 ft, the building is expected to be the tallest office building developed in downtown Dallas over the last three decades. 

The tower will feature 520,000 sq ft of office space across 23 floors and sit atop 7,500 sq ft of ground-floor retail space and 13 levels of above-grade parking.
Field Street Tower was designed so that it would stair-step on the upper floors and accommodate a series of outdoor balconies as the building rises and twists. Pursuing LEED Silver certification, the building’s sustainable technologies include energy-efficient lighting and an optimized central plant. In addition, the HVAC system will be equipped with an ultraviolet air purification system to protect tenants from airborne contagions.

Pickard Chilton is serving as the building’s design architect, while BOKA Powell is the architect of record. OJB Landscape Architecture is providing landscape design.

Omni PGA Frisco Resort

Construction is underway on the Omni PGA Frisco Resort in Frisco, Texas. The resort will feature 500 guest rooms and suites and seven private golf villas with views of two 18-hole championship golf courses designed by Beau Welling Design and Gil Hanse. A retail and entertainment district will feature dining, shopping and an outdoor stage. General contractor Brasfield & Gorrie is currently self-performing the structural concrete scope. So far, crews have drilled more than 900 deep foundation piers, placed two miles of grade beams and installed more than 2,000 ft of concrete foundation walls.

Cadence McShane Awarded McKinney Warehouse Project

Core 5 Industrial Partners has selected Cadence McShane Construction Co. as general contractor for a 279,356-sq-ft industrial warehouse—one of four buildings included in Core 5’s new McKinney Logistics Center located off Highway 5 in Dallas. Macgregor Associates Architects is serving as project architect.
Dubbed “Building C” by Core 5, the 32-ft clear height industrial warehouse will feature 48 overhead dock doors and four drive-up ramps in a cross-dock configuration. The building will be constructed using tilt-wall panels with a smooth concrete finish and cast stone masonry. Additionally, the main entrance will feature an aluminum storefront with insulated glass.

Construction has recently wrapped on buildings A and B, and Building C will break ground in October.

Tomball ISD’s New Stadium And Junior High School

Tomball Independent School District in August celebrated the completion of its new Grand Lakes Junior High School and Tomball ISD Stadium with ribbon-cutting events.

The facilities are two of the biggest projects included under a $275-million bond program that voters approved in November 2017 to accommodate the school district’s rapid growth. Student enrollment in the district increased from 16,000 in the 2018-19 school year to 19,500 in 2021. 

Built on a greenfield site at Cypress Rosehill Road and SH 99, the two projects broke ground in May 2019. PBK Architects served as the design architect, and Gilbane Building Co. served as the contractor.

The $37.29-million Tomball ISD Stadium will serve the district’s football, soccer, arts and band programs. The stadium will seat 10,000 spectators and accommodate 3,000 parking spaces.

The $43.26-million Grand Lakes Junior High School will alleviate overcrowding at Willow Wood Junior High School. The 228,346-sq-ft, single-story building will house 1,645 students in grades 7-8.

Dallas ISD’s $3.5-Billion Bond Program

AECOM has been selected to provide program management services for Phase 1 of the $3.5-billion Dallas Independent School District (DISD) 2020 Bond Program, its fourth consecutive contract with the district. AECOM has previously provided program management services for DISD’s 2002, 2008 and 2015 bond programs.

AECOM will provide oversight and coordination of designers, consultants, contractors and vendors as well as estimating, scheduling and program control services on projects encompassing the construction of new facilities and upgrades to existing facilities. 

DISD is the second-largest public school district in Texas, serving more than 150,000 students at 226 campuses. Goals of the 2020 bond program include renovating or replacing aging schools, providing technology for students to learn virtually and creating resource centers in neighborhoods identified as most in need.

Construction Begins On Two Port Neches ISD Schools

Cadence McShane Construction Co. is serving as general contractor for Port Neches-Groves ISD’s newest schools: Port Neches Intermediate School and Groves Intermediate School.

Concurrent construction of the two schools began in April, and they are set to be completed in August 2022. Designed by VLK Architects, the identical schools will be about 106,000 sq ft each and will house grades 3-5. The two-story schools will be able to support 750 students.

Port Neches Intermediate will be constructed next to a fully operational elementary school, while the Groves Intermediate site is a greenfield. The project scope also includes abatement and demolition of the nearby Woodcrest Elementary school.

Fort Worth’s First Public Library for Children and Youth Opens

Architect KAI and general contractor FPI Builders recently celebrated the completion of the Reby Cary Youth Library in Fort Worth. The library will serve children, teens and their caregivers and honor late Fort Worth civil rights pioneer and educator Reby Cary.

A grand opening celebration for the $5.49-million library was held Aug. 14. 

The design team worked closely with Creative Machines, an art design and fabrication firm, to create an interactive public art installation suspended from the ceiling called “Only Connect.” The installation is made up of more than 20,000 glass marbles and cascading LED lights. Visitors can manipulate the artwork’s lighted colors and patterns through the touch of a button and sensor points distributed throughout the library.