Dallas Baptist University Jim and Sally Nation Hall

Walter P Moore provided site development design for the new Nation Hall on the Dallas Baptist University campus. A parting gift from the school’s longtime leader, the new Gary Cook School of Leadership was terraced into a 50-foot hill on the most prominent piece of campus, overlooking two lakes. 2,000 linear feet of five types of retaining walls, some over 20-feet tall, were designed by Walter P Moore civil engineers. Concrete cantilever walls were used to define the elevated courtyard and accessible tunnels to the basement level of the building. A pre-cast gravity wall defines the perimeter of Swan Lake in the foreground of this signature project.

In addition to the retaining walls, the campus fire loop was re-routed while remaining in-service during construction, utilities were coordinated through a maze of rock anchors and other obstructions, and a lift station was designed to lift wastewater 37 feet up to the existing campus sewer main. Severe rains during construction led to erosion and destruction of portions of the partially constructed wall. The team remained flexible and creative, modifying their original design and adding additional walls systems to stabilize the site. The Jim & Sally Nation Hall opened in the fall of 2015.