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SALT LAKE CITY - Architectural Nexus, one of the Intermountain West’s principal architectural firms, today announced the completion of the Emma Eccles Jones Medical Sciences Building in the Health Sciences Center on the campus of the University of Utah Every aspect of the new 125,000 square-foot facility was analyzed to provide and promote interaction among researchers, students and other medical professionals with the Departments of Pathology and Biochemistry which have previously been housed in separate buildings. Paramount to this approach, Architectural Nexus employed “Oxbridge” Design concepts, which entail creating central circulation spaces – lobbies, walkways, alcoves, stairways and elevators – fostering formal and informal collaboration between people. Oxbridge, which is a combination of the names of Oxford and Cambridge, represents the synergy created when people associated with more than one research institution or department interact with one another. Additional design elements used to facilitate formal and informal collaboration include a central conference and lunch room on each floor; three glass stairways promoting interaction between levels; and each group of offices is placed in direct proximity to the laboratory and includes a multi-use space. “We approached the project with the objective of helping to support the University of Utah Health Science Center’s goals of advancing research, education and the quality of healthcare,” said Tim Thomas, Principal, Architectural Nexus. “This building will be one of the most important tools used by researchers and students, and will play a critical role in fostering collaboration that will lead to important research breakthroughs as well as better educating the next generation of medical professionals.” The exterior design expresses Oxbridge concepts with conference and lunch rooms emphasized in the projection from the eastside. The exit stairs on the northwest and southwest corners are encased in glass to emphasize the connectivity and collaboration of research activities on each of the levels. A central glass staircase also emphasizes and encourages vertical movement of occupants on separate floors. The pure rectangle shape of the floor plan is expanded in the north west corner symbolizing ”breaking out of the box” --by the collaborative research conducted in the building. The six-level medical sciences building includes a multimedia lecture hall, advisor offices, seminar rooms, laboratories and conference areas with the latest technology and equipment. Every office and laboratory in the building has an outside window which provides natural light helping to create an environment more conducive to research and learning. The facility also features a fiber optic backbone providing data access to all office and laboratory work stations. The building includes several features required to support research including a vibration stable environment, stable temperature and environmental spaces and utilities such as culinary and industrial hot and cold water systems, deionized water, natural gas, laboratory vacuum, laboratory compressed air, and accommodation of other laboratory gases at point of use. The facility features a fresh filtered air environment so that the health of researchers and the procedures they conduct are not impacted by contaminants. It has been designed with environmental control rooms which provide stable temperatures, fume hoods to accommodate specific requirements, 100 percent exhaust and make up air with appropriate energy conservation measures as required to meet energy use codes. The Emma Eccles Jones Medical Sciences Building is adaptable to changes in research protocols. The building’s structural elements include floor-to-floor heights large enough to accommodate future unknown requirements. In addition, all mechanical and electrical systems have reserve capacity to accommodate future loads. Architectural Nexus worked with general contractor Jacobsen Construction on the $36 million (construction cost) project. The Emma Eccles Jones Medical Sciences Building is located east of the Biomedical Polymers Building, also completed by Architectural Nexus, on East Medical Drive. About Architectural Nexus Press Contact: |
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