As one of four UT Austin campus buildings on the National Register of Historic Places, UJH holds immense historic and cultural significance. The building was constructed as a result of a local partnership between UT and Austin Public Schools (AISD) in 1933 to create a laboratory school to educate children and train teachers in innovative educational theory and practices. UJH was designed by distinguished architects Greene, LaRoche and Dahl, with Paul Phillippe Cret as consulting architect, and included innovative yet functional architectural features such as split levels, courtyard vistas and arcades.