The $200 million, 470,000-SF facility is the first hospital in the world to achieve such status

AUSTIN, Texas, January 8, 2009 – Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas has been awarded LEED Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, the first hospital in the world to achieve such status.   The 470,000-square-foot hospital opened in June 2007 on 32 acres that was once part of the former Mueller Municipal Airport, which has become one of the largest redevelopment efforts in the City of Austin’s history.

Sustainable elements such as abundant natural light, renewable building materials and an on-site power plant were all incorporated in the hospital’s site plan and another key component was to provide a playful healing environment for children. A three-acre, healing garden is one of the highlights of the hospital. Articulated by passive and active spaces, it includes a multimedia movie plaza, labyrinth, human sundial, butterfly garden, floating stone fountain and reflecting pond.

Within the hospital’s central courtyard is a three-story water way, which cascades down a granite wall into a serpentine stream, then flows over a rock waterfall into a reflecting pool. Native and adaptive plants were implemented throughout these courtyards, which not only conserve water but help provide clean, oxygenated air for air-handling units on each of the hospital’s four floors.

“We designed various courtyard environments to reflect the biodiversity of Central Texas by incorporating six ecoregions, each corresponding to a distinct area of the hospital’s 46-county service region,” said Brian Ott, principal at TBG Partners, the project’s landscape architect. “This helps connect patients and family members with the familiar environments they grew up around. Since the installments, Dell Children’s has received widespread acclaim for combining cutting-edge medical technology with art and green building design to create a cohesive healing environment.”

Inside the hospital, windows of varying shapes, sizes and color line walls, providing daylight to 80 percent of the facility and to patients and staff located within 32 feet of an exterior wall. Outside the hospital, a 4.3-megawatt natural gas-fired power plant – built and owned by Austin Energy – produces 100 percent of the hospital’s electricity, heating and cooling. Other cooling features that contribute to the hospital’s energy efficiency include reflective roofing and surface pavements, and an under-floor air distribution system that requires less power to operate than a traditional ceiling system.

Sustainable and indigenous building materials – such as white Texas limestone, concrete with high ash content, recycled glass and certified wood – were used throughout the hospital’s exterior façade, flooring and walls. In addition, 47,000 tons of recycled materials from the former airport’s runway were used for construction of the hospital.

Members of the project team include Seton Network Facilities as the developer, White Construction as the general contractor, Karlsberger as the architect, TBG Partners as the landscape architect, and Bury + Partners, CCRD and Datum Engineering as the engineers.

Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas was named the “Overall Winner” in the Austin Business Journal’s annual Best Real Estate Awards contest. The hospital opened on June 30, 2007, as the newest member of the Seton Family of Hospitals. This $200 million, “high tech, high touch” facility spans nearly one-half million square feet, three times as big as the previous Children’s Hospital of Austin. That additional space supports increased capacity in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and the Emergency Department, a comprehensive Pediatric Trauma program, a Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Center and a host of other capabilities.

ABOUT TBG PARTNERS

As Texas’ largest landscape architecture and planning firm, TBG Partners designs mixed-use and residential communities, corporate campuses, civic buildings, resorts, healthcare and educational facilities, city parks and historic sites.  With a strong commitment to the advancement of sustainable design principles, TBG encourages its employees to become LEED Accredited Professionals and its clients to utilize green building practices for their projects.  Established in 1987, TBG has offices in Austin, Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio.   For more information, please visit www.tbg-inc.com.

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Media Contact: Claire Bloxom
claire@coopersmithagency.com, (214) 329-9191

Sarah Cash promoted to principal; Mandy Tynan promoted to senior associate; and three new associates

AUSTIN, Texas; January 5, 2009 – TBG Partners, Texas’ largest landscape architecture and planning firm, has promoted Sarah Cash to principal; Mandy Tynan, RLA, ASLA, LEED AP, to senior associate; and Amy Starling, LEED AP; Katie Robillard, RLA, ASLA; and Laura Durham to associates at the firm’s Austin headquarters.

Sarah Cash has been with TBG since 1999 and is in charge of the daily financial operations of the firm’s four Texas offices. She also provides financial reports, consultation and expenditure oversight. Upcoming challenges include overseeing the installation of a new comprehensive software system and seamlessly incorporating the finances of Vernon G. Henry & Associates, TBG’s recent acquisition and Houston’s oldest land planning firm. Sarah holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Angelo State University and a Master of Business Administration degree from Texas State University.

Mandy Tynan has served as director of marketing for TBG since March 2007. She assists TBG’s principals and staff at all four Texas offices with marketing, business development strategies, and oversees TBG’s marketing and PR staff. Mandy is a registered landscape architect, and prior to moving to marketing, she performed design and project management for several TBG projects, including Bridgeland, a 10,000-acre residential and mixed-use development in Houston; Concordia Texas University’s new 389-acre campus in the Austin Hill Country; and Austin’s new 50-acre Bee Cave Central Park. Her past experience in design gives her a valuable and unique insight into marketing in the industry. Mandy holds a Master of Landscape Architecture degree from Texas A&M University.

Amy Starling provides design services for a number of TBG’s projects including St. Mary’s Healthcare System for Children in Bay Side, New York; Seven Meadows Community and Amenity Center in Katy, Texas; and Austin Children’s Shelter and Wooten Elementary Nature Play Garden in Austin, Texas. Amy holds a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture degree from Mississippi State University.

Katie Robillard is a landscape architect and provides design services for several TBG projects, including Cho-Yeh Camp and Conference Center in Livingston, Texas, and the Cinco Ranch Southwest master-planned community in Katy, Texas. Katie holds a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture degree from Louisiana State University.

Laura Durham has been with TBG Partners for three years, providing accounting, invoicing, and accounts receivable/accounts payable services for the firm. She is a graduate of Saint Mary’s College of California in Moraga, California.

ABOUT TBG PARTNERS

As Texas’ largest landscape architecture and planning firm, TBG Partners designs mixed-use and residential communities, corporate campuses, civic buildings, resorts, healthcare and educational facilities, city parks and historic sites.  With a strong commitment to the advancement of sustainable design principles, TBG encourages its employees to become LEED Accredited Professionals and its clients to utilize green building practices for their projects.  Established in 1987, TBG has offices in Austin, Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio.   For more information, please visit www.tbg-inc.com.

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Media Contact: Claire Bloxom
claire@coopersmithagency.com, (214) 329-9191

HOUSTON, January 5, 2009 – TBG Partners, Texas’ largest landscape architecture and planning firm, has promoted Blake Coleman, ASLA, to associate in the firm’s Houston office. As an associate, Blake will oversee landscape design and planning for numerous TBG Houston-area projects, including:

The new Central Hall and Recreation Center at the 2,018-acre Telfair community in Sugar
Land, Texas, which is seeking LEED-NC Certification;

The new Houston Museum of Natural Science at Sugar Land, which is a conversion of the
former 43,000-square-foot Central State Farm Prison building;

Edgewater, the Bay Area’s newest mixed-use, master-planned community on 538 acres in Webster, Texas; and

Galveston’s Sweetwater Cove, a new luxury residential community with 282 single-family island homes, a
full-service marina, pool and clubhouse located in a protected and pristine coastal location.

Blake has been with TBG for more than two and a half years. He holds a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture degree from Clemson University and is involved in several professional organizations in the Houston-area, including ULI, RDA and ASLA.

About TBG Partners

As Texas’ largest landscape architecture and planning firm, TBG Partners designs mixed-use and residential communities, corporate campuses, civic buildings, resorts, healthcare and educational facilities, city parks and historic sites.  With a strong commitment to the advancement of sustainable design principles, TBG encourages its employees to become LEED Accredited Professionals and its clients to utilize green building practices for their projects.  Established in 1987, TBG has offices in Austin, Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio.   For more information, please visit www.tbg-inc.com.

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Media Contact: Claire Bloxom
claire@coopersmithagency.com, (214) 329-9191