[SAguy]

San Antonio Business Journal-
UTSA taps design team for $90M downtown expansion 

The University of Texas at San Antonio awarded the building design services contract for its new School of Data Science and National Security Collaboration Center to Whiting-Turner|Jacobs|Overland, putting it another step closer to constructing a major anchor structure for its planned downtown campus expansion.

The $90 million facility, slated to open in 2022 near San Pedro Creek, will house the School of Data Science and National Security Collaboration Center and serve as the hub for UTSA's data intelligence and cybersecurity programs. The expansion will support UTSA's effort to be recognized as a research intense institution and is a critical component of the university's multicampus master plan.

“The School of Data Science will be the first of its kind in Texas and, combined with the power of the National Security Collaboration Center, will be a formidable leader in addressing national security challenges,” UTSA President Taylor Eighmy said. 

Weston Urban co-founder and Chairman Graham Weston contributed $15 million toward the downtown campus expansion. It's that gift— along with support from the University of Texas Board of Regents, the city of San Antonio and Bexar County — that's allowed the project to proceed., Eighmy said.

“This project will set UTSA and San Antonio apart as pioneers in data science and cybersecurity, while providing innovative solutions for government and industry,” Eighmy said.

Whiting-Turner|Jacobs|Overland was one of three top teams evaluated for the design contract. The facility will have 138,000 square feet of classroom, laboratory and research space. It will bring UTSA’s 70-plus faculty members in cybersecurity, cloud computing, data and analytics, and artificial intelligence under one roof downtown.

The School of Data Science will become the home to UTSA’s departments of computer science, computer engineering, statistics and data sciences, information systems and C\cyber security. It will also house the UTSA Open Cloud Institute.

The new facility will house space, laboratories and research facilities for the National Security Collaboration Center.