An aerial view of TMC3’s revised master plan shows the campus design still draws on DNA’s distinct double-helix shape, with green spaces linking to institutions in the core of Texas Medical Center and areas of new development by partner institutions.
Courtesy of Elkus Manfredi Architects
Nerve center. DNA necklace. Connective tissue. These are just some of the med-themed phrases being used to describe the revised form and function of TMC3, a life sciences research and innovation campus development project in Houston.
Its site stretches across 37 acres of the Texas Medical Center (TMC), a two-square-mile district of renown healthcare and research institutions that is already considered the world’s largest medical complex.
The project has revised and unveiled its initial master plan. The architectural and development team now includes Elkus Manfredi Architects of Boston, and Houston-based Transwestern Development Co. and Vaughn Construction, as announced in May by TMC3 founding institutions: Texas Medical Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Texas A&M University Health Science Center, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.
TMC3 is expected to break ground on its breakthrough project by early 2020 and open in 2022.
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As updated, the TMC3 master plan includes 1.5 million square feet of research space and labs – some collaborative, some designated for use by founding institutions – as well as retail, housing, a a hotel with 410 rooms and 50,000 square feet of meeting space, and extensive green space for use by a wider community.
An integrated biotech and bioscience center for innovation, collaboration and connectivity between its clinical, research and entrepreneurial participants, TMC3 intends to establish Houston as the “Third Coast” for life sciences – thus the number three in its name – and to better compete with similar entities on the east and west coasts (meaning Boston and San Francisco) in advancing medical research and discovery, according to remarks in the announcement by Bill McKeon, TMC’s CEO and president.
“Science, technology, medicine, discovery and innovation are all about making connections, and we are building a space for institutions, industry and startups to interact,” David Manfredi, CEO and founding principal of Elkus Manfredi Architects, explains in project materials.
A year ago, an initial design for the new TMC3 campus-within-a-campus featured a centerpiece building that was shaped like a double helix – a nod to the structure of DNA – and incorporated a mix of uses, including a rooftop-level park soaring 60 feet in the air.
As unveiled Wednesday by the project team, however, the design vision has evolved and flipped the DNA-inspired design from main building – a hub now dubbed TMC3 Collaborative – to the green spaces between it and other elements of the campus. Now, instead of a single, sky-high park, a series of parks and promenades elongate the helix “strand” to connect with both the core of the original TMC campus and with the newer development pending by member institutions.
The revised master plan, a more walkable and connected rendition, also describes the green links as a “necklace” that’s interlaced with the urban street grid for better accessibility by pedestrians and cars. Parking will be underground.
Well-designed open spaces help define – and brand – great institutional campuses, help attract and retain talent, and can serve as an attraction for the city, Manfredi’s remarks noted.
TMC3 has potential to create 26,000 jobs and has an estimated $5.2 billion economic impact on the city, a 2017 study by Silverlode Consulting found.
Texas Medical Center Inc. figures indicate its complex handles 10 million patient visits a year, employs more than 110,000 individuals and contains 50 million square feet of developed space. As a business district, it ranks eighth largest in the U.S.