Rice University Hanszen College

Timberlyne partnered with Forney Construction and the project team to help build the first mass timber collegiate residential facility in Texas.

The design for Hanszen College replaces an existing 1957 portion of the college with a new five-story, 56,000-SF addition. This improvement to the campus housing increased the bed count and enhanced the housing conditions regarding accessibility, daylighting, and comfort. Rice selected Kirksey and Barkow Leibinger (Executive Architect/Design Architect) to design this new student residence hall project, utilizing mass timber and leveraging the repetitive nature of student bedrooms to create a cost-effective and sustainable solution for the structure. The new Hanszen building is the first mass timber housing facility built on a university campus in Texas. The project includes 165 beds, with units comprised of singles, doubles, and two RA apartments, along with common areas where students could relax or study between classes.

Kirksey helped Rice University and three other institutions secure a $100,000 federal grant to promote research for the design and construction of the school’s first mass timber building. Having this mass-timber building on campus helps Rice to achieve the goal of operating as a carbon-neutral campus by 2028, which university leaders set in 2014.

The newly improved wing now has a reduced, more efficient footprint, and allows more space for future growth at Rice University. The design intent was to provide as much exposed mass timber as possible to add to the biophilic design elements, giving the building a natural welcoming aesthetic.

• Architect: Kirksey Architecture
• Engineer: E&C Engineers & Consultants Inc.
• General Contractor: Forney Construction
• Completed: 2023

Hanszen College: 6350 Main St, Houston, TX 77005

In The News:

• New Hanszen College Wing
• Think Wood New Mass Timber Student Housing Demonstrates a Commitment to Sustainability