ABOUT US

The UTA Design Build Program is a multi-disciplinary academic initiative working with strategic community partners in the North Texas Region. Based in the College of Architecture Planning and Public Affairs (CAPPA) at the University of Texas at Arlington, the program has impacted hundreds of students, community members, and professional partners for over two decades. Starting in 2002 with the modest intentions of providing students with more full scale design and construction opportunities, the UTA Design Build Program has grown into one of the central tenets of the strategic plan for the college and a catalyst for developing design leaders of the future. Through a well crafted process, projects apply innovative research, develop a critical advocacy platform, deepen design education, and foster engagement to support community-driven ideas.

Projects range from temporary installations to garden pavilions, and single family residences to civic works for local municipalities. When taken as a whole, these projects create a diverse array of typologies, material and technology benchmarks, and community interactions. The program has always benefited from strategic partnerships including non-profit project partners such as the Housing Channel and bcWORKSHOP and industry and professional partners like AIA Dallas and Dallas Area Rapid Transit. In 2016, CAPPA’s School of Architecture re-energized its Design Build Program as a result of several synergistic and complementary actions. The financial support of a generous donor, administrative support that led to design build becoming a component of the university’s strategic plan, and most importantly an increased interest from students propelled the program forward.

These elements aligned with a broader national trend in architectural education that centralized design pedagogy to value community engaged design build curriculum. In 2019, the UTA Design Build Program acquired resources to hire additional faculty and expand into the new 13,000 sq. ft. Community Design Build Lab where students work on full-scale projects supported by a state-of-the-art fabrication facility.

As a result, the program is now supported by multiple studios and professors with twelve projects completed in partnership with a wide range of community organizations over the past seven years. Throughout its history the program has always focused on ways education, design, and community engagement can produce a stronger and more equitable built environment. From the La Bajada Urban Youth Farm in Dallas, to the pioneering micro housing project in Arlington, the program has consistently found opportunities to advocate for more thoughtful, and sustainable design solutions to create real-world tangible impact with communities. As the UTA Design Build Program has grown, not only has the type and range of projects increased, but the profile of the program has risen to receive recognition among the community, region, state, and other academic institutions. This includes seven design awards at the national, state, and local levels that reinforces our mission of working with our local communities while seeking broad based impact through education and advocacy.