Missouri isn’t the only state with a new medical center designed to address the shortage of healthcare professionals, as the University of Kansas Medical Center recently opened the Health Education Building with the same goal in mind.
The Health Education Building is a four-story, 171,000-sf building designed by Co Architects and Helix Architecture that includes high-tech simulation environments and flexible learning studios. Large-scale teaching studios and clinical skills and simulation labs support active, team-based learning.
Photo courtesy of KUMC.
Two 225-person interactive studios are separated by an operable partition that can be removed to create one column-free 11,000-sf event space. The studios and labs “float” within the outer glass façade of the building to show off the core of the building’s curriculum to the public.
From the outside, the building’s design uses a transparent “lantern” box design. The ample use of glass allows students to receive natural daylight and provides them with exterior views.
The Health Education Building’s design also called for an on-grade parking lot to be changed into a 22,000-sf green courtyard and a 17,000-sf vegetated roof with access. The irrigation system for these features uses condensate water from the building’s mechanical system.
Photo courtesy of KUMC.
A 250-foot-long glass-enclosed bridge passes through the center of the Health Education Building and connects it to existing buildings on the Kansas City campus. The bridge links the campus into a loop that provides 6,000 sf of lounge, meeting, and student activity space.
The Health Education Building was designed with flexibility in mind and can accommodate a 25% class size increase over its current enrollment.
Photo courtesy of KUMC.
Related Stories
Healthcare Facilities | Aug 9, 2016
Key strategies to reduce healthcare facility costs and maintain operations
The right approach during the planning, design, and construction of a new facility can yield a positive return on investment and lower the overall cost basis for ongoing operations, writes Steve Higgs, Senior Managing Director with CBRE Healthcare.
| Aug 8, 2016
HEALTHCARE GIANTS: Age-simulation technology aids design for the mobility impaired
As the 65+ population continues to rise, the AEC industry needs to better understand the stresses and anxieties those who are mobility impaired face when navigating spaces like medical facilities.
| Aug 8, 2016
Top 80 Healthcare Engineering Firms
AECOM, Jacobs, and WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff top Building Design+Construction’s annual ranking of the nation’s largest healthcare building sector engineering and E/A firms, as reported in the 2016 Giants 300 Report.
| Aug 8, 2016
Top 100 Healthcare Construction Firms
Turner Construction Co., McCarthy Holdings, and Skanska USA top Building Design+Construction’s annual ranking of the nation’s largest healthcare building sector construction and construction management firms, as reported in the 2016 Giants 300 Report.
| Aug 8, 2016
Top 90 Healthcare Architecture Firms
HDR, Stantec, and Perkins+Will top Building Design+Construction’s annual ranking of the nation’s largest healthcare building sector architecture and A/E firms, as reported in the 2016 Giants 300 Report.
Healthcare Facilities | Jul 25, 2016
AIA selects seven winners of healthcare building design award
The National Healthcare Design Awards recognizes functional hospital projects that solve aesthetic, civic, urban, and social concerns. Recipients were selected in three categories this year.
Architects | Jul 22, 2016
5 creative approaches to finish standards
With the right mindset, standards can produce great design for healthcare facilities, as VOA's Candace Small explores.
Healthcare Facilities | Jul 20, 2016
Process mapping simplifies healthcare design
Charting procedures and highlighting improvement opportunities can lead to developing effective design strategy simulations. GS&P’s Ray Wong writes that process mapping adds value to a project and bolsters team and stakeholder collaboration.
Sponsored | Building Technology | Jul 11, 2016
3D scanning technology solves University of Iowa Children’s Hospital’s curved wall curveball
Gilbane Building Company utilized advanced 3D scanning technology as part of a virtual design and construction (VDC) solution to ensure quality control throughout the lifespan of the project
Healthcare Facilities | Jul 7, 2016
How to navigate the tedious regulatory approval process in healthcare construction
Compliance processes can be handled efficiently with a little bit of foresight. CBRE's Patrick Duke, Kyle Marden, and David Vollmer evaluate the regulations and permits that may be required and the process for incorporating approvals into projects.