Tomorrow is the official grand opening of the eagerly-awaited Health Sciences Education Building (HSEB), the newest structure on the 28-acre Phoenix Biomedical Campus. Constructed in a joint venture by DPR Construction and Sundt Construction, Inc., designed by CO Architects and Ayers Saint Gross, and with the City of Phoenix and the Arizona Board of Regents as owners, the project was delivered on time and on budget during one of the most difficult economic times in our country. Currently targeting LEED®-NC Silver Level Certification, the six-story, 268,000-sq.-ft., $135 million building was created so the state could expand its medical education facilities. HSEB addresses the critical physician shortage in Arizona by educating the next generation of science/health professionals and helps contribute to the development of a bioscience district in downtown Phoenix.

Collaboration was vital to the success of this project. In a unique demonstration of partnership, HSEB’s end users are both the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix campus (expanded from Tucson, AZ) and the Northern Arizona University physical therapy program (located in Flagstaff, AZ). For the grand opening, Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton, University of Arizona President Ann Weaver Hart, Northern Arizona University President John Haeger and Arizona Board of Regents Chair Rick Myers will be on hand to formally unveil the new building, which now houses more than 300 health science students from the two state universities. Demonstrations and tours of the building also will be conducted. Representatives from DPR and the project team will attend.

The building was a united effort of two owners, two universities, two architects and two general contractors. This innovative model for an integrated, interdisciplinary approach to health sciences education and research merged programs from two universities with distinct cultures onto one campus. An interactive planning process, which involved educators from the cross-section of health sciences disciplines, worked to create an educational vision of a team-based continuity of care model.

Check out the virtual tour of HSEB.