Designing a building that responds to the nature and climate of the site and serves as an iconic gateway for a new research area on campus

Texas A&M–Corpus Christi Tidal Hall Life Science Research Building

Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi (TAMU-CC) is in a prime location to support coastal, marine, and environmental science curricula. However, the teaching-oriented campus lacked laboratory space to facilitate graduate- and doctoral-level research and needed a facility to better accommodate these quickly growing programs.

Our architecture team designed the new Tidal Hall Life Science Research Building to serve as the gateway to a vibrant new research area. Facing the Corpus Christi Bay, the building visually connects laboratories with their research source—but also sits in a direct hurricane path. Our design responds by locating lab spaces at the center and circulation on the perimeter, organizing the building into layers that act as protective shields. We arranged the building vertically, placing teaching labs on the south and research labs on the north end of an east-west corridor. This enables each of the three floors to house 12 open research units—six on either side of a common support zone. Following a modular approach, the zones accommodate dedicated spaces for specific researchers and shared functions such as tissue culture, drying ovens, microscopy, and freezer rooms. Other amenities include specialized vacuum hoods, compressed air systems, an autoclave room, aquariums, and marine life observation rooms.  

Our final design provides the enhanced flexibility and resources needed to both maintain TAMU-CC’s designation as a Research II Doctoral University and support their pursuit toward becoming one of the world’s premiere academic research institutions.