Industrial Distribution Building
Civil, Geotechnical, Structural, Survey
The Industrial Distribution Building enhances teaching and research opportunities within the Texas A&M University System. The facility includes classrooms, labs, and spaces for collaboration. Gessner supported the project with services that ensure a coordinated, constructable design while facilitating architecture that creates distinctive spaces throughout the common areas. Our subsurface geotechnical investigation clarified soil conditions and guided foundation and pavement strategies. This helped the team create a stable, durable site. Accurate surveying established the control and existing-condition data needed for accurate site design, enabling efficient planning and construction across the site. Civil design solutions improved access, drainage, utilities, and circulation, while structural design and supplemental foundation reviews ensured the building remained compatible with layout changes and performance requirements.
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Project Size
Challenges
The project faced multiple challenges that required close coordination across disciplines. A pause on the project halted progress, necessitating careful evaluation before work could resume. Civil engineering challenges included extending utilities into a developing area while planning for future campus expansion. The team also designed grading and stormwater systems on a flat site to ensure proper drainage. Structurally, the team collaborated with the architect through multiple design iterations to reduce the building footprint, incorporate a rooftop mechanical well, accommodate a moveable partition wall, and resolve the lobby canopy’s transition from interior to exterior. These efforts were further complicated by expansive soils, which limited uplift capacity and required longer side spans.
Solutions
Solutions for the project were achieved through close collaboration across all disciplines. The civil team worked with RELLIS campus stakeholders and reviewed the master plan to size and route utilities for both current needs and future campus expansion. Stormwater systems were coordinated with an adjacent infrastructure project and aligned with a shared regional basin. This ensured effective drainage and long-term site functionality. Structurally, the team partnered with the architect through iterative design to refine the building footprint, integrate the rooftop mechanical well, and accommodate the moveable partition wall. Structural detailing for the lobby canopy and façade successfully resolved transitions from interior to exterior while maintaining a unified visual element. Geotechnical strategies mitigated expansive soil conditions and improved stability for longer spans.
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