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The University of Texas at Austin

Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs

School Renovation

LBJ School Renovation

As of August 2009, the LBJ School enters into the final stretch of an exciting $18 million building renovation which will be completed by January 2010. This revitalizing "makeover" replaces the tired, 40-year-old structure with a refreshing new facility that better reflects the School’s dynamism. This fall, the School will move into the Third Floor of Sid Richardson Unit III, while the renovations to floors one and two are completed. As you can tell from the photos, new building is far more welcoming and modern, and allows for more contact among faculty, staff, and students. Even more, the new building takes advantage of the latest in instructional and media technologies to improve external communication and classroom pedagogies.

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A Commitment to a "Next Generation" School and Workspace

From the beginning, the goal for renovating the School went far beyond mere cosmetic changes. The idea was to revolutionize the space to create a rejuvenated flow of people and technologies that better reflects the School’s educational and research dynamic. The current design of the building was tired and lacking in both professionalism and modern technology. The long hallways, cramped classrooms, and isolated offices worked against the collaboration and interaction that has become essential to a public policy school.

The new building design will have a much stronger sense of place, with an eye to maximizing academic performance, and expanding programmatic initiatives as well as student services. The first floor lobby will be a warm, welcoming area with a coffee shop, furnishings, and spaces that are both functional and adaptable. The overall feel of the School will be much more modern—both visually and technologically—and will be designed to provide places for both formal and informal interaction. As you can see from the drawings, the core concept for the design focused on the functionality of the School’s research and policy centers, allowing people of common interests and function to interact more easily and draw dynamic energy through discussion, collaboration, and collegiality.

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Classrooms: More, Bigger, Flexible and Wired

Increasing classroom spaces and sizes while upgrading instructional technologies were all fundamental demands of the new building design. The School’s previous eight seminar-style classrooms averaged around 20 seats and rigidly kept to a conference room format. The new design doubles the classroom space (from 3,912 to 10,396 square feet) and allows for a variety of adaptable configurations to meet a specific needs and teaching environments. Classrooms on the second and third floors will be equipped with sound-resistant room dividers, permitting a 70-seat, lecture-style classroom to be converted into two, 35-seat seminar rooms. Distributing classrooms across all three floors will improve access and provide more classrooms for use by student working groups, administrative committees, faculty meetings, etc.

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Increased Common and Collaborative Spaces

Public affairs and policy work relies heavily on cooperation and teamwork. The new building includes a tremendous amount of collaborative study spaces of varying sizes to allow undisturbed group and individual study. Electronic technology will be an important component to these common areas. As the School continues to expand its wireless network and develops common areas for collaboration, the new computing space will accommodate power outlets, network drops and tabletop space.

Cutting-Edge Technology and Energy Efficiency

When Sid Richardson Hall was built 40 years ago, the electrical and engineering design did not envision the televisions, copiers, wireless and computers that have revolutionized our instructional pedagogies and raised the expectations for data and analytical skills of our students. And it goes without saying that tremendous building and engineering advances developed over the preceding four decades, are available to make the LBJ School far more energy and environmentally efficient. While the University’s scope of the renovation does not allow for every possible energy and environmental efficiency, it does provide a number of opportunities for improving informational technologies and reducing the School’s carbon footprint. So far, some of the ideas incorporated into the design include installing low-flow sinks and toilets, reconfiguring appliances, replacing the outdated lighting scheme with high-efficiency lighting controls (dimmers, time-limited switches, high-efficiency bulbs, etc.), and replacing old electrical and cooling/heating systems with a new energy management infrastructure.

View the New LBJ School Floor Plans

"The Middle Time" Floor Plan (September 1 – December 10, 2009)
"The New Time" Third Floor Plan (January 1)
"The New Time" Second Floor Plan

Evacuation Routes

Third Floor (Middle Time)
First Floor (Middle Time)