University of Utah Eccles Health Sciences Education Building
University of Utah Eccles Health Sciences Education Building
“The design process for the Health Sciences Education Building was very skillfully managed by the Ellenzweig team. With a large, interdisciplinary project management committee, building consensus was challenging at times but the Ellenzweig team was very responsive in providing creative alternatives for review. The result was design that generated enthusiastic support from our Health Sciences Center community. We have a building (completed on time and on budget) that is truly impacting the quality of education at the Health Sciences Center, a building that we are all very proud of. The Ellenzweig team was a wonderful partner throughout this exciting project.”
- Wayne Peay, MLS, FACMI Librarian Emeritus Eccles Health Sciences Center University of Utah
University of Utah Eccles Health Sciences Education Building
Salt Lake City, Utah | 155,000 gsf | $30 million | 2005 | LEED-Certified
The Eccles Health Sciences Education Building provides an interdisciplinary, high-technology learning center for the School of Medicine, College of Pharmacy, College of Nursing, and College of Health; it also serves the Eccles Health Center Library, accommodates facilities for hospital staff support training, and houses core academic functions for the School of Medicine. The project is LEED-certified.
The project includes over 40 lecture rooms, classrooms, and seminar rooms, all equipped with the latest “smart classroom” technology and computer network access; several of the classrooms are outfitted with distance learning capabilities, strengthening the commitment to distance learning for continuing education and other outreach programs.
Flexible teaching labs and a clinical skills suite are included in the building components dedicated to the medical school. The teaching labs for subjects such as histology and microbiology are organized to emphasize small-group, hands-on learning and can be configured in a variety of ways to reflect changing class size. The clinical skills area provides separate circulation for students and standardized patients, maintaining privacy for each.
The building also includes numerous social and interaction spaces available for use by students and faculty of the entire Health Sciences complex, including a central atrium, café, student lounges, locker rooms, break-out spaces, bookstore, and flexible function room.
Internally, the building is organized along a “pedestrian street” corridor running the entire length of the building, connecting all functions and bridging to the Eccles Health Center Library. This pedestrian street is expressed on the exterior as a glass curtainwall, while the remainder of the building is housed in brick to match adjacent buildings. Toward the main entry, the five-story building steps down to two stories to relate to the scale of the directly adjacent College of Pharmacy building. Here, the building mass is inflected to create an entry plaza; the main entry is directly adjacent to the primary pedestrian pathway that interconnects the entire Health Sciences campus.
Ellenzweig served as Design Architect and Educational Facilities Planner, working in association with VCBO Architecture, Architect-of-Record.
University of Utah Eccles Health Sciences Education Building
