Arizona State University’s Health Futures Center: A new home for medical tech innovation

In Phoenix, the Arizona State University (ASU) has constructed its Health Futures Center—expanding the school’s impact as a research institution emphasizing medical technology acceleration and innovation, entrepreneurship, and healthcare education.

Designed by CO Architects in collaboration with DFDG Architecture, the ASU Health Futures Center is a multidisciplinary home for medical tech innovation, research, education, and conferencing. CO designed the building to allow spaces to function in multiple ways, encouraging interdisciplinary collaborations. It’s located on a newly developed site for the university’s growing biotech presence near the Mayo Clinic Phoenix.

The Health Futures Center is the first building to be constructed as part of the almost 20-year Mayo Clinic-Arizona State University Alliance for Health Care collaboration. CO master-planned the new 24-acre campus on previously undeveloped desert land, then programmed and designed the three-story facility for ASU’s College of Health Solutions, College of Nursing and Health Innovation, and Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, as well as shared programs with Mayo Clinic.

The $80 million, 145,200-square-foot building includes research laboratories, simulation suites, workspaces, and instructional rooms. The light ecru exterior was designed for the desert heat, with windows angled to face northward on both the east and west facades, minimizing solar heat gain. The center offers views of the McDowell Mountains to the east and central Phoenix to the south.

The building’s conference center features a double-height auditorium with 278 fixed seats arranged in a circular configuration, with the capacity for up to 320 in an in-the-round configuration. Audio, video, and lighting elements allow patrons to view dynamic visual presentations from wherever they’re seated.

On the building team:
Owner: Arizona State University
Design architect: CO Architects
Architect of record and executive architect: DFDG Architecture
MEP engineer: Affiliated Engineers (AEI)
Structural engineer: Advances Structural Engineering
General contractor/construction manager: DPR Construction

ASU Health Futures Center int — Courtesy CO Architects.

ASU Health Futures Center patient — Courtesy CO Architects.

ASU Health Center Futures meeting — Courtesy CO Architects.

Construction delays are common with projects as large as the $354 million Reading Hospital expansion. Maybe that’s why construction manager Jeff Hutwelker, project executive with LF Driscoll Co., LLC, was so pleased with his nora® experience. By Hutwelker’s estimates, nora nTx saved approximately two months in his construction schedule.

Healthcare Facilities | Nov 30, 2016

Utilizing real estate to build physician networks

How hospitals can partner with their doctors to build an ambulatory network.

Healthcare Facilities | Nov 10, 2016

Prescription for success: Managing technology in the design of healthcare facilities

While the benefits of intelligently deployed technology are abundantly clear to both designers and healthcare end-users, it’s no simple task to manage the integration of technology into a building program.

Public Health Labs | Nov 3, 2016

Cutting-edge microscope facility opens on UMass Medical’s campus

Design and construction met rigorous requirements for sound, vibration, and temperature controls.

Healthcare Facilities | Oct 31, 2016

A world unbuilt: The moral implications of design

The communications challenges don’t even begin to compare to the inherent challenges of designing for a developing nation, writes CannonDesign's Michael McManus.

Rx for noise control at Virginia hospital: Large dose of acoustical ceilings

A myriad of acoustical ceiling solutions aid in patient comfort and recuperation.

Cyclotron streamlines isotope production

The 70 MeV, 140-ton cyclotron was manufactured by Ion Beam Applications (IBA) in Belgium.

Industry Research | Oct 20, 2016

New book from HDR explores opportunities for how healthcare organizations can reinvent the patient experience

Delta offers a close look at specific activities and behaviors that can help healthcare providers and caregivers discover revolutionary concepts to help them embrace and thrive in the rapid change that surrounds them.