The University of Houston has opened its Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine, one of the first new medical schools in Houston in nearly 50 years.
Over a 16-month period, a Building Team led by architect of record and engineer PageSoutherlandPage, designer The S/L/A/M Collective, and general contractor Vaughn Construction collaborated on this $90 million project, which now serves nearly 500 medical students. The three-story, 128,400-sf College sits on 43 acres of the university’s campus, and is the first building designed for the university’s new medical district.
This is also the first LEED Gold building on the university’s campus. Energy performance is optimized through features that reduce indoor water use, energy demand responsiveness, passive daylighting and more. Others include healthy materials selection, including the use of oak boards reclaimed from the site itself. The project includes its own 6,300-sf central utility plant.
Multi-floor Learning
Among the College of Medicine’s features is a Sky Box Lecture Hall on the second floor with a 128-seat capacity, and four seminar rooms that can accommodate another 50 people for presentations. Also on the second floor is a simulation center, made up of clinical skills exam rooms and simulated hospital rooms. One of the three Sim Flex Labs supplies acute simulations such as trauma, operating, and intensive care scenarios.
On the first floor, an Active Learning Classroom and Wellness Studio open the building to the public, where students can host community events and gain valuable hands-on interaction.
The College is named after the family of Tilman J. Fertitta, the businessman who owns the Houston Rockets NBA team, casinos that include The Golden Nugget, and is chairman of the University of Houston’s Board of Regents.
In a letter to faculty and staff, the College’s Founding Dean Stephen Spann, who is the university’s Vice President for Medical Affairs, stated that the university is taking “a bold and fresh new approach to medical education” by focusing on a key contributor to poor health: a shortage in primary care doctors. The College’s mission is to train doctors to prevent and improve poor health, not just treat it, and to help eliminate healthcare disparities in urban and rural areas.
The university estimates that in the medical college’s first decade of operations, it will return $4.13 for every dollar spent on it, and add $376.6 million in total revenue to greater Houston.
Related Stories
| Sep 15, 2014
Ranked: Top international AEC firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Parsons Brinckerhoff, Gensler, and Jacobs top BD+C's rankings of U.S.-based design and construction firms with the most revenue from international projects, as reported in the 2014 Giants 300 Report.
| Sep 9, 2014
Using Facebook to transform workplace design
As part of our ongoing studies of how building design influences human behavior in today’s social media-driven world, HOK’s workplace strategists had an idea: Leverage the power of social media to collect data about how people feel about their workplaces and the type of spaces they need to succeed.
| Sep 7, 2014
Behind the scenes of integrated project delivery — successful tools and applications
The underlying variables and tools used to manage collaboration between teams is ultimately the driving for success with IPD, writes CBRE Healthcare's Megan Donham.
| Sep 3, 2014
New designation launched to streamline LEED review process
The LEED Proven Provider designation is designed to minimize the need for additional work during the project review process.
| Sep 2, 2014
Ranked: Top green building sector AEC firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
AECOM, Gensler, and Turner top BD+C's rankings of the nation's largest green design and construction firms.
| Aug 19, 2014
HOK to acquire 360 Architecture
Expected to be finalized by the end of October, the acquisition of 360 Architecture will provide immediate benefits to both firms’ clients worldwide as HOK re-enters the sports and entertainment market.
| Jul 30, 2014
Higher ed officials grapple with knotty problems, but construction moves ahead [2014 Giants 300 Report]
University stakeholders face complicated cap-ex stressors, from chronic to impending. Creative approaches to financing, design, and delivery are top-of-mind, according to BD+C's 2014 Giants 300 Report.
| Jul 28, 2014
Reconstruction market benefits from improving economy, new technology [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Following years of fairly lackluster demand for commercial property remodeling, reconstruction revenue is improving, according to the 2014 Giants 300 report.
| Jul 28, 2014
Reconstruction Sector Construction Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Structure Tone, Turner, and Gilbane top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest reconstruction contractor and construction management firms in the U.S.
| Jul 28, 2014
Reconstruction Sector Engineering Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Jacobs, URS, and Wiss, Janney, Elstner top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest reconstruction engineering and engineering/architecture firms in the U.S.
