Newsletter of the College of Architecture at Texas A&M University
Students in a fourth-year design class at Texas A&M presented their ideas of what Bell Helicopter's headquarters near Fort Worth could look like a decade from now during a December 2009 review at the company's headquarters.
The students’ concepts for the Bell campus' building designs, traffic patterns, campus layout, sustainability and efficiency were unveiled to a gathering of employees, staff members from the company's enterprise asset management department and other guests.
Valerian Miranda, associate professor of architecture, directed the students’ efforts.
"The students developed conceptual master plans for the facility with a 25-year time frame," he said. "Working in groups of three, they illustrated their ideas by individually developing schematic designs of various aspects of their plans."
The campus, in Hurst, Texas, approximately 10 miles northwest of Fort Worth, covers more than 200 acres and hosts the company's corporate offices, design and engineering departments, composites manufacturing and some of its test flight operations.
"The students caused us to have several 'Aha!' moments based on ideas they generated that we can now incorporate in renovation projects," said Ted Biar, Bell's director of facilities and maintenance, who called the project “a success.”
Miranda, Charles Culp, associate professor of architecture, and doctoral architecture student Ian Nelson traveled to Fort Worth at the outset of the project to learn what Bell employees and senior management thought about their company's facilities and its corporate culture.
A few weeks later, students visited the campus, touring the facility's plants and its engineering building.
"After their visit, the students researched current trends of manufacturing facility design, office and workplace design and sustainability concepts," said Miranda. Several alternative concepts and designs were proposed, discussed and discarded before the final presentation materials were prepared, he added.
“I was impressed how innovative and comprehensive the projects were,” said Steve Lehr, Bell's enterprise asset management manager. "They presented refreshing ideas related to sustainability, facility organization, renovation and transportation."
As a result of the presentations, said Lehr, Bell started a shuttle service from its site to a nearby station for the Trinity Railway Express, a commuter rail service that runs from Fort Worth to Dallas.
"Several of the students' suggested sustainability projects are already in the works," he said.
- Posted: Mar. 24, 2010-
