Texas State University Richard A. Castro Hall

Owner: Texas State University
Architect: Randall Scott Architects

Texas State University began the fall semester with the opening of Castro Hall, a seven-level student housing complex overlooking the rolling hills of the flagship San Marcos campus. Built to support the university’s rapidly growing student body, Castro Hall provides 942 student beds along with three Resident Director apartments, administrative offices and communal spaces for dining, lounging, laundry, studying and gaming.

In 2024, Texas State welcomed more than 40,000 students, a five percent increase from the year before and the highest enrollment in the university’s 125-year history. To accommodate the rapid growth, the university committed to creating affordable on-campus housing for more than 900 new students by Fall 2025 – a tight deadline that wouldn’t have been possible using a traditional design-bid-build delivery method. Having built trust with Texas State through a longstanding relationship and proven track record, SpawGlass-Austin partnered with Randall Scott Architects to deliver the project through a condensed and efficient design-build delivery schedule – the first of its kind for the university.

Texas State’s goal, “heads in beds by Fall 2025,” became the team’s mantra. By overlapping design and construction phases, the design-build approach allowed for critical activities to start at an accelerated pace. This coordinated effort cut nearly a year off the schedule compared to alternative delivery methods, condensing the project timeline to just 19 months from groundbreaking to completion – a profound accomplishment for a project of this magnitude.

Efficiency drove every aspect of construction. Underground utility lines were rerouted during early planning, and the building footprint was designed around an existing electrical vault to avoid delays. Prefabrication played a significant role in streamlining productivity, with elements such as interior framing, infrastructure systems and exterior panels completed offsite, allowing multiple phases of construction to take place at once.

Planning a project of this size with a condensed schedule required precise coordination and communication. Our team, trade partners and suppliers worked side-by-side as a cohesive unit as each carefully choreographed step of the project fell into place. Milestones were marked on schedule and momentum stayed strong throughout each stage of construction. Senior Superintendent Gilbert Martinez said, “The timeline really pushed us to think differently about sequencing and planning, from procurement to just-in-time deliveries to subcontractor management. Looking back, it was a master class effort that many thought was impossible to accomplish.”

Like Gilbert, many of the SpawGlass team members on the Castro Hall team were Texas State alumni, while others have spent years on the campus completing projects for the university. This familiarity with the campus culture and priorities created a sense of pride and accountability that guided daily decisions. Supporting student satisfaction and reinforcing Texas State’s reputation for delivering high-quality, accessible education remained the key focus from start to finish.

As the project wrapped up and move-in day drew closer, Senior Project Manager Ryan Ogle said the team was already preparing to jump into the next endeavor: another student housing complex for Texas State University set to break ground before the year ends. “We began with the end in mind and stayed focused on having heads in beds by Fall 2025 every step of the way,” he said. “It was rewarding to watch it all come together, and we can’t wait to do it again.”