Texas Tech University’s (TTU) Experimental Sciences Building II (ESB-II) is located within its campus in Lubbock, Texas, US.
The $77m facility lies next to the existing ESB I building, which was opened in March 2006, west of the ESB I building and north-east of the biology building.
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ESB II was built with an investment of $77m. Construction commenced in February 2017 and was completed in June 2019.
The building was officially opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony in October 2019.
ESB II provides multi-disciplinary research facilities for teams of faculty researchers and their students in diverse disciplines including chemistry, physics and engineering. It allows scientists from different disciplines to work together to solve problems.
ESB-II design details
The new building’s design concepts are artistically similar to the Texas Tech Spanish renaissance style of architecture.
The L-shape building comprises four stories and a basement, covering a total floor space of 117,000ft2. It includes open, flexible and modular high-tech research laboratory spaces.
Facilities include a 14,000ft2 vivarium, four general wet labs covering a 20,000ft2 area, three instrumentation labs and two synthetic labs. This is facilitated with biosafety level two to carry out biomedical research.
The building also houses 29,500ft2 of office space, 26 faculty offices, cubicle seating for 26 and seating for 109 graduate students. It accommodates core instrumentation facilities and has support spaces for three conference rooms.
Research activities at the new ESB II building at TTU
The building’s common areas, labs and support facilities encourage and enhance the collaboration between graduate students, researchers and faculty. The facility is used to support the larger campus research and development community, which fosters interdisciplinary research.
The facility offers additional research capabilities at TTU and is used for the growth and extension of new research areas. It also addresses areas of national importance and draws top researchers from different fields together to work under one roof.
ESB II has ample research facilities to support thematic research and large-scale projects.
The thematic research interests of faculty develop from TTU’s College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, the College of Arts and Sciences, the Edward E Whitacre Junior College of Engineering and the College of Human Sciences.
Financing for ESB-II at TTU
The Texas Legislature provided $70m for the project through the authorisation of a tuition revenue bond.
The project also received $7m through revenue system finance, which is repaid by the Higher Education Assistance Funds.
Contractors involved
The designs for ESB II were provided by Kansas-based architect TreanorHL Architects.
Architecture company Ayers Saint Gross was given a contract to provide designs for the exterior facade and the interior finish of the building.
Landscape architecture company Prairie Workshop was chosen as the landscaping architect for the facility.
Lead Pencil Studio served as the artist, while Flintco served as the prime contractor.
Project Control, a project management and owner’s representative services provider, served as the construction manager.
