After much anticipation about where the new University at Buffalo‘s (UB) School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences would be and the firm that would design it, it is evident that the new buildings being built on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus (BNMC) are setting the standard for creative submissions by many globally competitive design firms to design innovative facilities within the Buffalo-Niagara region.
UB’s announcement to have HOK design its $375 million medical school came after holding a second-round architectural ideas competition to decide which firm could present the best creative design for the project. Although the actual design has yet to be revealed, what can be said is that the plan will go down in the books as one of Buffalo’s most sustainable structures to be built. The HOK planning goal is to aim for a LEED Gold certification for the facility.
The medical school will be located on the corner of Main and High Streets and will either incorporate the NFTA Metro Rail Station into the design or be built alongside it. The groundbreaking is set to take place in the fall of 2013 with the goal of completing construction by 2016. The facility will bring 1,200 students, faculty and staff to the BNMC.
HOK model that won the architectural competition to design the UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
Another UB building which actually broke ground in 2010 and is nearly finished, is the 4-story Educational Opportunity Center (EOC). The design firm, Holt Architects, has an extensive portfolio creating design plans for higher education institutions. Set to relocate next to the UB Gateway building (formerly known as the M. Wile and Company Factory Building) on the corner of Ellicott and Goodell Streets, the EOC addition will contribute to the formation of the UB Downtown Gateway Complex. The EOC will move from its current location on the corner of Washington and East Mohawk Streets to the 64,000-square-foot, $46 million anticipated LEED Gold certified building.
The EOC is a part of ten Educational Opportunity Centers and two Outreach and Counseling Centers within New York State that works under the SUNY University Center for Academic and Workforce Development’s mission to serve the academically and economically underserved residents of NYS. Tuition-free programs that are offered range from GED training, college preparation, and ESL education to career training in the health care and information technology industries. Other services include tax preparation resources and assessment testing for members of the community. There will be a Bethel Head Start program and an enclosed outdoor playground on the premises as well.
Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) revealed the design of its $40 million Clinical Sciences Center created by FXFOWLE Architects. The blueprint outlines a 142,000-square-foot, 11-story frame to be on the corner of Michigan Avenue and Carlton Street. Connecting to the main hospital building of RPCI, the Clinical Sciences Center will serve as space where patient screenings will take place, as well as outpatient treatments.
Administrative offices will also function out of the building, and with the new building RPCI is projecting that 30 or more staff positions will be created as a result of the additional services to be offered. Construction is scheduled to begin within the next eight months for the project, as it is said to be up to a 3-year building process.
Kaleida Health‘s Gate Vascular Institute (GVI) and UB’s Clinical and Translational Research Center (CTRC) was designed by Cannon Design. The 476,000-square-foot, $291 million facility is located on the corner of Goodrich and Ellicott Streets.
The building consists of 10 stories, including WNY’s largest emergency room on the ground level. The GVI provides premier surgical and interventional management of cardiac, vascular, and neurosurgical care on floors 1-4. The CTRC will occupy floors 5-8 with its researchers. Two floors are for mechanicals. Not only does the new building serve as a collaborative incubator for researchers and medical practitioners, it also offers a plethora of amenities that will enhance the GVI patient experience to the highest degree.
Moving to the BNMC on Ellicott and High Streets is Kaleida’s Women and Children’s Hospital of Buffalo which is scheduled to close its current location on Bryant Street in the Elmwood Village in 2015. Ranked 48th in Gastroenterology in 2012 by the US News & World Report edition of “Best Children’s Hospitals,” Children’s will continue as one of the best national specialized hospitals in its new building to be designed by Shepley Bulfinch.
With all of the new buildings lined up to be built on the BNMC, a great deal of construction will take place on the Medical Campus over the next few years. As the BNMC grows, the opportunities to create healthier communities and to have a regional economic impact only increases.