Texas State University (Texas State)’s film and media studies program have a new home in the recently completed Live Oak Studios Building, for which Vaughn Construction served as the construction manager-at-risk. This building is already helping support the growing program by providing specialized instruction spaces for film, television, video production, sound technologies, and sports media.
The design of the Live Oaks Studios Building meets the needs of the rapidly growing film and media studies program. It features a film sound stage with a computer lab, a television studio with a control room, and a recording/mix studio with an isolation booth.
The television and recording/mix studios required increased insulation, heavy-duty drywall, and higher acoustical ratings on walls and doors to block out as much noise as possible.
In addition, we installed a pipe grid system in the double-height ceilings to support the heavy weight of studio lighting and equipment and to provide the flexibility to rearrange lighting and equipment as needed.
The building also includes faculty offices, staff workstations, general lobby space, and support spaces. The main design feature of the building is the media concourse, an 8-foot-wide hallway extending the length of the building and featuring oblong skylights and wall art graphics. One side of the hallway also has a soundproof wall.
Our team encountered unexpected challenges when we found an arrowhead and a spearhead while working on the site. Local archaeologists worked alongside our team to investigate the other contents hidden on-site. The Owner made the schedule a top priority, so our team provided all the information we could, including GPS coordinates, to the Texas Historical Commission in Austin to speed up their investigative processes.
Arrowheads and spears were not the only artifacts needing protection, however. Several 200-year-old oak trees that were very important to Texas State sat adjacent to the site. Texas State names its buildings after the natural landmarks on campus, and these trees were the Live Oak Studios Building’s namesake. During the building’s steel erection, our team protected these trees and kept them watered and out of harm’s way.
We look forward to helping Texas State University educate future leaders on further campus projects.