The design of any institutional and commercial facility is a long and careful process designed to take into account the activities and operations in and around the building. One university is finding out the hard way that design considerations can have unforeseen implications.
University of Houston President Renu Khator recently issued a series of tweets following the university's second apparent student suicide in a month's time, according to Chron. In her messages, Khator confirmed the deceased individual at Agnes Arnold Hall was a student and said the university would take additional steps to address student safety and mental health on campus.
"While we have shut down activities including classes in Agnes Arnold for now, we still need to sit down with students, faculty and staff in the coming weeks to seriously consider our options in regard to the building,” Khator says. “I recognize mental health is posing serious challenges on campuses nationwide, including our own."
A Change.org petition recently was created calling for the retrofitting of Agnes Arnold Hall to alter the six-story, 56-year-old building's open verandas, which survey creator Madeline Statkewicz says are a compelling element in the pattern of deaths.
Dan Hounsell is senior editor of the facilities market. He has more than 30 years of experience writing about facilities maintenance, engineering and management.
