The International Interior Design Association recognized the University of Houston Law Center's John M. O'Quinn Law Building for excellence in higher education design.
The John M. O'Quinn Law Building was designed by Shepley Bulfinch, a women-owned architecture firm.
May 1, 2023 — The John M. O’Quinn Law Building recently received the Higher Education Award of Merit at the 2023 International Interior Design Association (IIDA) Southwest Chapter Design Awards ceremony on April 20.
The IIDA awards honor “design excellence” and “innovative solutions for interior spaces.” This marks the first design award for the University of Houston Law Center building, which opened last fall.
“I am delighted that our ultramodern, world-class John M. O’Quinn Law Building is now award-winning,” said University of Houston Law Center Dean Leonard M. Baynes. “Many thanks to the stalwart efforts of the Law Center’s Building Committee — Professor Amanda Watson, Professor Johnny Rex Buckles, and our intrepid Associate Dean Greg Vetter — for helping to lead us through the design and implementation process.”
The building was brought to life through the collective support of the UH Law Center donors, alumni, faculty, students, staff, UH Leadership, and members of the Texas legislature.
“Many thanks to the Law Center alumni leadership in working to make the decades-long dream of a new law building a reality. Many thanks also to UH President Renu Khator for making the law school building a key priority in the last legislative session, and Vice President Eloise Brice for her philanthropic genius. Working together contributed to the success of the building campaign, raising funds necessary to construct the John M. O’Quinn Law Building,” added Baynes.
The law building was designed by the women-owned architecture firm, Shepley Bulfinch. The five-story, cantilevered building has dedicated spaces for instruction, research, clinics, and events. At approximately 180,000 square feet, the all-above-ground facility includes a multi-level library, a meditation room, a courtroom, commuter showers with changing rooms, an outdoor terrace, student lounges, an advocacy skills lab, and an AI-enabled contactless convenience store.
The law building, located at 4170 Martin Luther King Boulevard, is the newest law school building in Texas and one of the newest in the country.
View the IIDA Southwest Chapter event program for a full list of honorees.
