The official grand opening of the new Health Sciences Education Building on the Phoenix Biomedical Campus was also the celebration of a collaborative effort on the part of two general contractors and two architectural firms.
In an unprecedented collaboration, the 6-story, $135M, 268,000 SF facility was built so the state could expand its medical education facilities. The University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix has expanded its class size and Northern Arizona University has increased its health-related offerings in the building.
Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton, UA President Ann Weaver Hart, NAU President John Haeger and Arizona Board of Regents Chair Rick Myers were on hand to formally unveil the new building, which now houses more than 300 health science students from the two state universities.
Representatives of the building team — architects CO Architects and Ayers Saint Gross and the joint venture contractors DPR Construction and Sundt Construction, Inc. — were in attendance as well.
One of the signature points of the HSEB is its copper exterior. More than 250,000 pounds of 99.9% recycled copper was used. The work was done by Kovach.
>> The UA College of Medicine: Phoenix currently anchors the biomedical campus and currently hosts 265 medical students, including its expanded class of 80 new first-year students.
>> NAU in Phoenix: The initial class of the physician assistant program includes 25 students, and the physical therapy program has 24 students. Both plan to expand in coming years.
Also on the Phoenix Biomedical Campus are the UA College of Pharmacy and the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, the global headquarters of the Translational Genomics Research Institute and International Genomics Consortium, and Arizona Biomedical Collaborative building.
