Texas A&M students will be able to participate in the first class at the CFL beginning this fall.
Texas A&M’s College of Architecture unveiled its new Construction Field Lab (CFL) at the Texas A&M-RELLIS campus during a June 23 ceremony.
Located at the southwest corner of the RELLIS campus, the Construction Field Lab is a collaborative project led by the Texas A&M College of Architecture, built in partnership with the U.S. Air Force 560th RED HORSE Squadron and supported by industry donors and former students.
After two years of planning, the College of Architecture partnered with the RED HORSE Squadron through an Educational Partnership Agreement to build the CFL. The collaboration provided hands-on training for airmen in planning and construction while delivering a functional facility.
Dr. Patrick Suermann, former interim dean of the College of Architecture, said the CFL is a practical space designed to integrate applied learning environments for Texas A&M students across multiple disciplines.
“The Construction Field Lab will provide more space for us to teach students from across the college high-impact, hands-on learning and partner with our industry professionals for classes, camps, outreach, recruiting and field exercises that we previously never were able to accomplish,” Suermann said.
The 4,000-square-foot building gives students room to experience real-world construction projects just minutes from the main campus. The CFL also includes an adjacent GroundFORCE modular classroom.
Suermann said the site enables more students to participate in practical learning experiences, such as on-site fabrication, construction exercises and innovative demonstrations.
Before this facility, the college’s only comparable hands-on opportunity required students to travel abroad.
The CFL will serve as a controlled, near-campus environment where students can experience every phase of a construction project, including plan reading, equipment handling, vertical construction and material testing.
