Best Structure - School/Educational

UNT Ryan Tower

UNT Ryan Tower

Description

The Amanda and G. Brit Ryan Tower is a 180-foot tall landmark on the University of North Texas at Dallas Campus. The tower sits adjacent to the New Student Center and marks the intersection of the North/South Promenade, Vista Court, Campus Square, and new Amphitheatre. The lighted tower also marks the center of the university so that it can be seen by the surrounding community as well as the main entry to campus.

Project Timeline

The original construction concept was to use a traditional structural steel frame with hand-set masonry. The general contractor contacted Enterprise Precast to investigate an alternate system. Then Enterprise Precast became engaged in the design-build process in July of 2021. Following the engineering process, the precast concrete was produced in November and then erected in a very brief span of 15 days, in December.

Key design features

Precast concrete was used as a practical design solution due to the ability to provide minimal on-site disruption to this bustling college campus, and it was also an excellent aesthetic choice for this architectural beacon that will become an iconic feature in the university’s skyline.

In order to match the overall campus aesthetic, the brick and precast concrete features of the tower needed to visually relate to the surrounding campus architecture. A thin brick solution was designed by ACME Brick to match the many other traditional-brick projects on the campus. Since the campus brick had never been used before in a thin brick precast design, mock up panels were built and shipped to Clemson University for absorption and pull out testing.

Accomplishments 

The project was designed by Enterprise’s in-house Engineering Team in Omaha, NE and features load-bearing, moment-resisting architectural precast. Connections at each level were achieved using NMB Splice Sleeves along with welded connections.

Precast concrete components 

The project features 70 precast concrete pieces comprised of load-bearing, moment resisting architectural precast panels and floor slabs. Connections at each level were achieved using NMB Splice Sleeves along with welded connections.

Enterprise Logo