North Dakota had a problem: looking ahead, the Peace Garden State would not have enough physicians to serve the population. So, hundreds of civic leaders, healthcare educators, and citizens formed a Healthcare Workforce Initiative. The chief goal: train and retain more doctors. The key component: a new School of Medicine & Health Sciences (SMHS).
Medical planners and designers, led by local design firm JLG Architects, conducted a two-year space use study to convince the state’s conservative legislature that a radically new interdisciplinary healthcare learning center could be built for $124 million (the previous high for any state-funded higher education project was $64 million).
With funding OK’d, the Building Team was given three years to complete the 1.7 million-sf cap-ex project. JLG teamed up with Perkins+Will and Steinberg Architects on a Revit model that helped them deliver construction documents in 12 months—a year ahead of schedule. Meanwhile, the construction team of PCL and Community Contractors performed all the groundwork while the building was being designed.
The SMHS opened last fall. Compared to UND’s old med school, the new building increased occupancy by 20%, teaching functions by 20%, research functions by 24%, and clinical space by 112%, even as administrative space was cut 13%.
The SMHS accommodates new technology. Students can now simulate an ambulance transfer from the ER ramp through surgery, all in the same space—an impossibility in the old med school.
The new building is already attracting talent: a new Associate Dean was hired three-fourths of the way through construction.
Photo courtesy Paul Crosby Architectural Photography.
Building Team – Submitting firm, lead architect: JLG Architects; Owner: University of North Dakota School of Medicine & Health Sciences; Design architect: Perkins+Will; Medical education designer: Steinberg Architects; Structural engineer: Heyer Engineering; MEP engineer: Obermiller Nelson Engineering; CM: PCL/Community Contractors JV
General Information – Size 318,000 sf Cost $124 million Construction time March 2013 to May 2016 Delivery method CM at risk
Related Stories
| Aug 29, 2022
Montana becomes first U.S. state to approve 3D printing in construction
Montana is the first U.S. state to give broad regulatory approval for 3D printing in building construction.
Architects | Apr 22, 2022
Top 10 green building projects for 2022
The American Institute of Architects' Committee on the Environment (COTE) has announced its COTE Top Ten Awards for significant achievements in advancing climate action.
Concrete Technology | Apr 19, 2022
SGH’s Applied Science & Research Center achieves ISO 17025 accreditation for concrete testing procedures
Simpson Gumpertz & Heger’s (SGH) Applied Science & Research Center recently received ISO/IEC17025 accreditation from the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA) for several concrete testing methods.
2021 Building Team Awards | Jan 14, 2022
First public-private partnership project in Veterans Administration history saves $34 million in costs
LEO A DALY and McCarthy Building Companies head the project team for the Omaha VA Ambulatory Care Center in BD+C’s 2021 Building Team Awards.
Building Team Awards | Dec 8, 2021
A performing arts center celebrates a legendary rocker and his birthplace
Buddy Holly Hall in Texas receives BD+C’s Silver Building Team Award.
Building Team Awards | Dec 7, 2021
A rapid response to a health emergency
Baptist Hospital of Miami’s 233-bed Hope Tower receives BD+C’s Bronze Building Team Award
Building Team Awards | Dec 3, 2021
Putting science on display, thanks to a design-build approach
UC Riverside’s Plant Growth Environments Facility receives BD+C’s Bronze Building Team Award.
Building Team Awards | Dec 2, 2021
An academic ‘precinct’ brings arts and sciences together
Wofford College’s Chandler Center for Environmental Studies receives BD+C’s Silver Building Team Award.
Building Team Awards | Dec 1, 2021
Denver sets the bar for water reclamation and reuse
A new administration building for the city’s water utility company scores Platinum in BD+C’s 2021 Building Team Awards.
2021 Building Team Awards | Nov 17, 2021
Caltech's new neuroscience building unites scientists, engineers to master the human brain
The Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Institute for Neuroscience at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena wins a Gold Award in BD+C's 2021 Building Team Awards.
