The new Ursuline Academy of Dallas Academic Building is part of a 95,000 sf addition to the historic east campus. The 2-story addition is nestled in the treetops of a heavily sloped site and is a respectful architectural response to the existing traditional campus vernacular and context. The view from the north soccer field shows a careful placement of the new building, maintaining the prominent tree line seen from the main entry approach and circle drive. The proposed window openings, size, and proportion respond to the classic architectural design found on campus, while also utilizing the legacy red brick and cast stone found on the historic Main Hall.

Programmatically the Academic Building houses Core Classrooms, Visual Art and Ceramic Studios, a state-of-the-art Digital Film | Broadcast Studio, Fabrication Labs, and two Maker Spaces that support the school’s 3D Printing and Engineering | Robotics programs. All these spaces have direct access to outdoor work areas that surround an outdoor amphitheater serving as a central learning hub for the arts. Interior collaboration and study spaces are distributed and open to student groups with a variety of technology and flexible furniture choices along with ample writing displays and tack surfaces supporting academic communication and learning.

The west elevation welcomes students and visitors with a large gateway revealing the new and modern Performing Arts Center and outdoor performance spaces that is protected by the outer traditional shell of the Academic Building.