As the Dell Medical School continues to search for its inaugural dean, UT has selected an architect to design the first phase of buildings for the school.

According to UT medical school spokesman Robert Cullick, Page Southerland Page and ZGF Architects have been selected to design two of the four new buildings on the complex. The firms will design the research building and the medical office building.

“It’s a very competitive process,” Cullick said. “It’s a premier project. We had a lot of different participants from around the world.”

According to Cullick, the University was attracted to the local and outside perspectives brought by the two firms teaming up on the project. Page Southerland Page, an Austin-based firm, has designed buildings for the Baylor College of Medicine and the UT Southwestern Medical Center. Page Southerland Page has also worked on several buildings for three other UT System schools: UT-Arlington, UT-Dallas and UT-El Paso. ZGF Architects, based in Portland, Ore., has worked on projects for the University of California – Berkeley, Stanford University and the University of Southern California.

Citing an agreement with UT, Page Southerland Page declined to comment on winning the assignment.

UT is in the process of selecting a firm to design the education and administration building. According to Cullick, the University expects to select an architect in the coming weeks. Cullick said the University chose to separate the project into two assignments in order to ensure the buildings will be completed by the school’s fall 2016 opening date. 

Seton Healthcare Family selected architecture firm HKS to design the $295 million teaching hospital which will replace University Medical Center Brackenridge in June.

Cullick said the selection of the medical school’s inaugural dean will be the next major step in the school’s development. According to Cullick, the University will review applications during the fall semester.

Follow Jacob Kerr on Twitter @jacobrkerr.