Design is under way for a new $24-million classroom and office building for Texas A&M University - Central Texas in Killeen.

JQ is providing structural and civil engineering services for the Fort Sam Houston Joint Wing Headquarters in San Antonio, one of 14 federal contracts JQ was hired to provide such service on during 2010.

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Texas A&M University Central Texas campus is the result of a partnership between Fort Hood and the Texas Legislature among others. Fort Hood donated the site for the university.

The project involves the first building of a multi-year development plan for the 662-acre campus. The initial building consists of a 93,000-sq-ft, four-level structure containing faculty and administrative offices, instructional support offices and classroom spaces.

Also included is a single-level, 4,500-sq-ft lecture hall and vestibule/lobby area. Jaster-Quintanilla (or JQ) of Austin is providing structural engineering services to Dallas-based architecture firm Good, Fulton & Farrell.

The creation of the new campus was made possible by a unique partnership between Fort Hood, which contributed the land, and the Texas Legislature, which is funding the initial building and infrastructure, JQ co-founder and Austin principal Gary W. Jaster tells Texas Construction. “Studies indicate the university will be the second largest economic development in the region only behind Fort Hood,” he adds. “This federal/state investment makes perfect sense even in these difficult financial times.”

JQ structural project manager Jamie Buchanan says coordination and communication are essential in the project because there are so many different entities involved, including the city of Killeen, Fort Hood, Texas A&M, Cincinnati-based ACI, the general contractor, and members of the design team.

The first building of the TAMU Central Texas campus broke ground in late summer when a time capsule was presented to Marc Nigliazzo, the school’s president. The capsule was placed in the walls of the new building to be opened again in 2060.

JQ has also been hired to provide structural and civil engineering services for the Fort Sam Houston Joint Wing Headquarters in San Antonio. This project is a two-story, 26,000-sq-ft administrative facility and parking area. The project is budgeted at $7.4 million and is designed to achieve a LEED-silver rating.

The design-build project broke ground in August. JQ is working in conjunction with Dallas-based Leetex/Hill & Wilkinson and Salt Lake City-based GSBS Architects. The project is designed per Anti-Terrorism and Force Protection Standards.

The Fort Sam Houston project is one of 14 new federal contracts in 2010 for which JQ will provide engineering services, JQ principal Thomas L. Scott says.

“Designing to the ATFP standards touched almost every discipline,” Scott adds. He says JQ had to deal with issues such as a secure perimeter and designing for blast and progressive collapse of the structure.