Texas A&M Innovation Plaza: Main St. At Holcombe Blvd.

[hindesky]

1 hour ago, jmitch94 said:

So you go to school to get an engineering degree and a medical degree? Why both and not one or the other? 

[stuckINdallas]

6 hours ago, hindesky said:

Not only money but the medical field was way behind the tech curb and is now drastically changing with new technology being introduced. Doctors will increasingly need to know robotics and automation. Houston could be the new technology-medicine hotbed for innovation with all of our medical institutions adapting to new technologies in the field.

[texan]

10 hours ago, jmitch94 said:

So you go to school to get an engineering degree and a medical degree? Why both and not one or the other? 

 

The idea is that medicine needs more engineers in the field to make treatment more advanced and cheaper. (Aggie engineer here, student when this all was announced although I'm in aerospace, not medicine) They pitched it to us that in engineering school our way of thinking is changed to a creative problem solving capacity and that we seek to understand instead of just memorize (I've been told by friends that med school professors love having engineers in their classes for this reason). Rather than just knowing what the body does, in med school engineers seek to understand the how and why. They say this would allow us to use that creative problem solving ability to attack the problems head on. Instead of just providing treatment, physician engineers would constantly come up with new solutions- hardware, using data, or otherwise- to treat patients. Essentially, applying the problem solving ability of engineers to the medical field. Really what it is is broadening the pool that medicine pulls from, adding people of new backgrounds, which will definitely make the field better.

[jmitch94]

On 5/22/2020 at 8:42 AM, texan said:

 

The idea is that medicine needs more engineers in the field to make treatment more advanced and cheaper. (Aggie engineer here, student when this all was announced although I'm in aerospace, not medicine) They pitched it to us that in engineering school our way of thinking is changed to a creative problem solving capacity and that we seek to understand instead of just memorize (I've been told by friends that med school professors love having engineers in their classes for this reason). Rather than just knowing what the body does, in med school engineers seek to understand the how and why. They say this would allow us to use that creative problem solving ability to attack the problems head on. Instead of just providing treatment, physician engineers would constantly come up with new solutions- hardware, using data, or otherwise- to treat patients. Essentially, applying the problem solving ability of engineers to the medical field. Really what it is is broadening the pool that medicine pulls from, adding people of new backgrounds, which will definitely make the field better.

I’m genuinely not arguing here but isn’t that what bio-med and bio-tech degrees do already? I guess this is just at the PhD level?

[texan]

18 hours ago, jmitch94 said:

I’m genuinely not arguing here but isn’t that what bio-med and bio-tech degrees do already? I guess this is just at the PhD level?

I think the idea is to have the people actually providing the care and using the new innovations create them. In engineering, knowledge of operations and how the solution needs to work greatly benefits the design process. Bio-med and bio-tech engineers, while quite talented and useful, aren't in the trenches providing the care (unless of course, they also are MDs).

[Luminare]

15 minutes ago, texan said:

I think the idea is to have the people actually providing the care and using the new innovations create them. In engineering, knowledge of operations and how the solution needs to work greatly benefits the design process. Bio-med and bio-tech engineers, while quite talented and useful, aren't in the trenches providing the care (unless of course, they also are MDs).

 

I honestly think this needs to happen in Architecture as well. While there is a substantial argument to be made that there are a myriad of ways students benefit from getting a more general or isolated education in there various fields, many of the real issues we face today are from the fact that our institutions have become overly preoccupied with the abstract, and theoretical instead of what is actually happening in the real world. A way to help this is by bringing multiple disciplines together so they can have checks on one another and learn from one another, and push each other to actually apply there knowledge to what is actually happening in reality. In a way we need to start popping some bubbles or echochambers. People outside ones discipline can be incredibly useful to gain new insight into what one doesn't know or understand. Establishing more lines of communication is always better than cutting oneself off.

[Urbannizer]

[hindesky]

[Paco Jones]

Architect:

Kirksey Architecture

 

Developer:

Medistar

 

 

 

 

 

[Tumbleweed_Tx]

nice

[texan]

The Texas A&M University System has branded the buildings going up at Innovation Plaza. The building under renovation right now that will open later this year to support the EnMed program (Engineering Medicine) will be called Discovery Tower. The student housing complex will be called Life Tower. And the commercial building with the parking garage will be called Horizon Tower.

 

https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/texas-news/texas-am-system-brands-buildings-at-innovation-plaza-in-houston/2393968/

[hindesky]

 

[hindesky]

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/real-estate/article/Texas-A-M-hires-brokerage-firm-to-lease-30-story-15440277.php

 

Texas A&M hires brokerage firm to lease 30-story medical tower in TMC

 

Nancy Sarnoff July 28, 2020 Updated: July 28, 2020 2:16 p.m.

 

Texas A&M University and Houston-based hospital developer Medistar Corp. have hired JLL to lease the medical office tower planned as part of the university's $550 million complex to be built near the corner of Holcombe and Main Street in the Texas Medical Center.

The 30-story building -- called Horizon Tower -- will have 485,000 square feet of space dedicated to life sciences and medical offices. Construction is expected to start later this year.

The project is part of Texas A&M's Innovation Plaza, a campus development announced earlier this year designed to include an 18-story academic building for the university's engineering medicine program, which it is partnering on with Houston Methodist, a 19-story student housing facility and the Horizon medical tower.

 

The new building, at 6929 Main St., is slated to open in January 2024. It will have 17 floors of office space above 13 levels of parking.

JLL’s Tim Gregory and Angela Barber will lead leasing efforts.

 

 

 

 

[CREguy13]

Breaking ground a year early in this economic climate?  The demand must really be building... terrific news!

[Highrise Tower]

[AREJAY]

471 ft for the "IMP Building" and 268 ft for the student housing building 

 

https://oeaaa.faa.gov/oeaaa/external/searchAction.jsp?action=displayOECase&oeCaseID=446566214&row=288

https://oeaaa.faa.gov/oeaaa/external/searchAction.jsp?action=displayOECase&oeCaseID=446566207&row=287

 

Overview
Study (ASN): 2020-ASW-10281-OE Prior Study:   Status: Work In Progress		Received Date: 07/26/2020 Entered Date: 07/26/2020 Map: View Map
Construction Info		Structure Summary
Notice Of: CONSTR Duration: PERM    (Months: 0    Days: 0) Work Schedule: 08/27/2020  to  06/01/2023		Structure Type: Building Structure Name: TAMU Health Plaza - IMP Building FCC Number:
Structure Details		Height and Elevation
Latitude (NAD 83): 29° 42' 31.41" N Longitude (NAD 83): 95° 24' 10.58" W Datum: NAD 83 City: Houston State: TX Nearest County: Harris		Proposed Site Elevation: 50 Structure Height: 471 Total Height (AMSL): 521   Frequencies Low Freq High Freq Unit ERP Unit

 

 

Overview
Study (ASN): 2020-ASW-10280-OE Prior Study:   Status: Work In Progress		Received Date: 07/26/2020 Entered Date: 07/26/2020 Map: View Map
Construction Info		Structure Summary
Notice Of: CONSTR Duration: PERM    (Months: 0    Days: 0) Work Schedule: 08/27/2020  to  07/01/2022		Structure Type: Building Structure Name: TAMU Health Plaza - Student Housing FCC Number:
Structure Details		Height and Elevation
Latitude (NAD 83): 29° 42' 33.49" N Longitude (NAD 83): 95° 24' 09.85" W Datum: NAD 83 City: Houston State: TX Nearest County: Harris		Proposed Site Elevation: 51 Structure Height: 268 Total Height (AMSL): 319   Frequencies Low Freq High Freq Unit ERP Unit

 

[Lux]

John Sharp, Chancellor of Texas A&M System, just stated to the Texas A&M Board of Regents in open forum that the groundbreaking on the Texas A&M Innovation Plaza will occur next week. This public-private partnership is moving at warp speed with $401M in private investment!  Late 2020 is coming sooner than we imagined.

[hindesky]

I'm not seeing any hand railings on any floor but the first.

[Urbannizer]

 

 

[CaptainJilliams]

^ It looks like the tall tower in the first pic and the last pic have have different designs. Which render is the most recent version?

[Montrose1100]

9 minutes ago, CaptainJilliams said:

^ It looks like the tall tower in the first pic and the last pic have have different designs. Which render is the most recent version?

Who knows. They couldn't even bother to put the balconies window shades on the existing building.

 

I don't spot much difference in the pictures. The top feature just appears more glossy/glass like in the last one. 

[MarathonMan]

1 hour ago, CaptainJilliams said:

^ It looks like the tall tower in the first pic and the last pic have have different designs. Which render is the most recent version?

I think they are the same design, but the perspectives are different and one is a daytime render while the other is night.

[jmitch94]

1 hour ago, CaptainJilliams said:

^ It looks like the tall tower in the first pic and the last pic have have different designs. Which render is the most recent version?

The tallest building is the one on the right in the second picture. You are seeing it from the ground level and can’t see its height. Looks to be the same design as far as I can tell. 

Edited August 26, 2020 by jmitch94

[texan]

Just after Houston survived Laura, TAMUS broke ground today on the next phase of Innovation Plaza. The Texas A&M University System is wasting no time!
 

https://www.tamus.edu/texas-am-breaks-ground-on-innovation-plaza-in-texas-medical-center/

[Highrise Tower]

12 hours ago, texan said:

Just after Houston survived Laura, TAMUS broke ground today on the next phase of Innovation Plaza. The Texas A&M University System is wasting no time!
 

https://www.tamus.edu/texas-am-breaks-ground-on-innovation-plaza-in-texas-medical-center/

 

Looks like more fencing arrived on the site.

 

[hindesky]

The netting was raised just in case.Several of the construction trailers are gone, only 1 remains.

[hindesky]

All the fencing and trailers are gone.

[Highrise Tower]

[mls1202]

I say this as an Aggie, but this building's design is about as underwhelming as any building built at the main College Station A&M campus the last two decades.  I don't know if this is a problem of "government buildings" where pressures to keep costs down trump any sort of architectural statement a private company may be motivated to make.  At least it improves on what was there...

[Fortune]

7 hours ago, mls1202 said:

I say this as an Aggie, but this building's design is about as underwhelming as any building built at the main College Station A&M campus the last two decades.  I don't know if this is a problem of "government buildings" where pressures to keep costs down trump any sort of architectural statement a private company may be motivated to make.  At least it improves on what was there...

 

Its a renovation of an existing building what did you expect them to do?