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
| May 24, 2012
2012 Reconstruction Awards Entry Form
Download a PDF of the Entry Form at the bottom of this page.
| May 9, 2012
Shepley Bulfinch given IIDA Design award for Woodruff Library?
The design challenges included creating an entry sequence to orient patrons and highlight services; establishing a sense of identity visible from the exterior; and providing a flexible extended-hours access for part of the learning commons.
| May 8, 2012
Morgan/Harbour completes three projects at Columbia Centre
Projects completed on behalf of property owner, White Oak Realty Partners, LLC, Pearlmark Realty Partners, LLC and Angelo Gordon & Co.
| May 7, 2012
2012 BUILDING TEAM AWARDS: TD Ameritrade Park
The new stadium for the College World Series in Omaha combines big-league amenities within a traditional minor league atmosphere.
| May 3, 2012
2012 BUILDING TEAM AWARDS: Rush University Medical Center
This fully integrated Building Team opted for a multi-prime contracting strategy to keep construction going on Chicago’s Rush University Medical Center, despite the economic meltdown.
| May 3, 2012
U of Michigan team looking to create highly efficient building envelope designs
The system combines the use of sensors, novel construction materials, and utility control software in an effort to create technology capable of reducing a building’s carbon footprint.
| May 2, 2012
Building Team completes two additions at UCLA
New student housing buildings are part of UCLA’s Northwest Campus Student Housing In-Fill Project.
| May 1, 2012
Construction is underway on MLK ambulatory care center in L.A.
Featuring a variety of sustainable features, the new facility is designed to achieve LEED Gold Certification.
| Apr 30, 2012
Virginia Commonwealth unveils design for Arts Institution
Institute for Contemporary Art will serve as a catalyst for exhibitions, programs, research and collaboration.
| Apr 25, 2012
J.C. Anderson selected for 50,000-sf build out at Chicago’s DePaul University
The build-out will consist of the construction of new offices, meeting rooms, video rooms and a state-of-the-art multi-tiered Trading Room.
