The notion of open learning environments in higher education is trending, leading to the design of more collegiate buildings worldwide that are meant to remove barriers between students, faculty and disciplines.
Arizona State University’s Health Futures Center riffs on this popular design and educational idea, aiming to be a connecting place for interdisciplinary innovation, research, and medical simulation. Ground recently was broken on the facility, which is located adjacent to the Mayo Clinic campus, in northeast Phoenix.
The $80 million health care services facility will have a flexible framework, meant to support research and collaboration between the Mayo Clinic and ASU. The 142,000 SF building project’s groundbreaking was in April 2019; it is expected to be completed by late 2020. It is the first building on a new campus for ASU.
The building is meant to bring together the university’s College of Nursing and Health Innovation, College of Health Solutions, and the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, together with some shared programs of the Mayo Clinic.
The project was designed by CO Architects and DFDG Architects. CO Architects has expertise in developing such “hybrid” learning environments as is planned for the ASU facility.
“Our goal with ASU’s Health Futures Center is to create opportunities that maximize interdisciplinary collaboration and research in partnership with Mayo Clinic Phoenix, to help meet the mission of improving health outcomes,” says Jennifer Knudsen, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, Principal at CO Architects. “Our team designed the building to support a range of evolving interdepartmental research activities, industry partnerships, and teaching models through flexible, innovation-ready spaces.”
The under-construction building’s planned trapezoid façade is meant to decrease glaring from sun exposure on the structure’s east and west sides.
See Also: Sail on, Royal Caribbean: HOK-designed headquarters celebrates cruise ship industry
To speed work on the aggressively scheduled project, the CO/DFDG team collaborated with DPR Constriction’s pre-construction team, by way of the construction Manager at Risk method. The collaboration spawned a predictive cost-analysis tool, helping the project’s stakeholders prioritize needs and wants before the schematic design phase. This approach enabled the teams to design a building that fit needs and desires, and which will be within budget.
Through using Dassault Systemes’ 3DEXPERIENCE platform, the project’s designers streamlined and simplified the visual representation of the building’s complex geometry, enabling stakeholders to understand the structure’s design benefits.
CO Architects is the design architect, master planner, simulation planner, interior designer and laboratory planner for the building. DFDG is the project’s executive architect. DPR Construction is general contractor, ASE is serving as the structural engineer, Wood Patel is civil engineer, Jeremiah Associates, LLC, is performing AV/IT and acoustical, AEI Affiliated Engineers, Inc. is MEP engineer, and Floor Associates is performing landscape work on the project.
Related Stories
Healthcare Facilities | Aug 3, 2018
Seismic deadlines approaching for healthcare companies
California hospitals can save money with a holistic approach to retrofit issues.
Healthcare Facilities | Jul 30, 2018
Best in healthcare design 2018: Seven projects win AIA/AAH Healthcare Design Awards
The Steven Holl-designed Maggie’s Centre Barts cancer treatment facility in London highlights the honorees of the AIA Academy of Architecture for Health 2018 Healthcare Design Awards.
Healthcare Facilities | Jul 26, 2018
Healthcare market trends 2018: Health systems get leaner, more resilient
Hospitals set their sights on improving patient convenience and operational efficiency.
Healthcare Facilities | Jul 11, 2018
5 ways design is transforming behavioral healthcare
Circadian lighting, calming materials, and transparency are helping to normalize the patient experience in behavioral healthcare.
Healthcare Facilities | Jul 10, 2018
HGA designs acute care hospital for MetroHealth in Cleveland
The facility’s master plan creates a ‘hospital in a park.’
BIM and Information Technology | Jul 9, 2018
Healthcare and the reality of artificial intelligence
Regardless of improved accuracy gains, caregivers may struggle with the idea of a computer logic qualifying decisions that have for decades relied heavily on instinct and medical intuition.
Healthcare Facilities | Jun 28, 2018
New Stanford Healthcare outpatient building opens in Redwood City
The facility recently celebrated its grand opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Healthcare Facilities | Jun 26, 2018
The future of the ambulatory surgery centers and acuity levels
Offering the one-two punch of cost savings and convenience, ASCs are increasingly becoming the venue of choice for both physicians and patients.
Healthcare Facilities | Jun 26, 2018
Mesquite, Texas to receive 60-acre ‘wellness village’
Construction is anticipated to begin on the initial phase in mid-2019.
University Buildings | Jun 25, 2018
Virginia Commonwealth has at least three major expansion projects under construction
New buildings for outpatient care, engineering, and rehabilitation of serious injuries and debilities are scheduled to be completed in 2020.