Commonwealth Architects Latest Infill Projects Provide VCU with Cutting Edge Medical Centers
August 20, 2009
Commonwealth Architects has completed the design and construction of two projects for Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center in Richmond, Va., recognized by U.S. News as one of America's best hospitals. The new facilities will allow researchers to harness the latest in bio-medical research at VCU.
Virginia Commonwealth University Molecular Medicine Research Building
The $71.5 million Molecular Medicine Research Building is an eight-story, 125,000 square-foot facility with laboratory space for 48 researchers on the campus of the VCU School of Medicine. Open labs are intended to spark interaction among researchers as they work to discover new therapies and cures for diseases.
Commonwealth Architects, in association with Ballinger, Inc., focused the design of this infill project to be sensitive to its historic neighbors through careful massing, use of proportion and material selection. Occupying a prominent site along East Broad Street, it replaces the obsolete Nursing Education Building that formerly stood at this location with a state-of-the-art research facility to better support VCU's goals for the future.
"The new research building... respects the scale and integrity of Monumental Church while stepping up the hill and allowing West Hospital to still tower above. Harmony is further achieved because the research building, like its neighbors, employs the classical idiom of proportion: The three neighbors speak the same root architectural language," said Edwin Slipek, Jr., an Architecture Critic with Style Weekly.
Virginia Commonwealth University W. Baxter Perkinson, Jr. Building
Commonwealth Architects has completed the design and construction of an addition to the VCU School of Dentistry. The 56,000 square-foot, four-story W. Baxter Perkinson, Jr. Building expands the clinical, teaching and research facilities of Virginia's only dental school. The completion of this infill building will allow the VCU Medical Center to expand and adapt for the future needs and demands in medical research and education.
Fifty-two new clinical stations will help educate more students to serve the community by providing dental services to more people, ultimately providing better access to dental care across the state. Research laboratories will enhance VCU's research program in the areas of head and neck cancer research as well as tissue bioengineering.
The addition respects the surrounding architecture while presenting a bold new face for the north edge of VCU's medical campus. Incorporation of design elements inspired by nearby VCU buildings such as the iconic Egyptian Building and West Hospital ties the new Perkinson Building to the larger campus, enhancing the sense of community for this site that previously consisted of a parking lot.
In order to meet VCU's sustainable design goals, the W. Baxter Perkinson, Jr. Building utilizes a number of green design strategies, including energy efficient mechanical systems, water-saving plumbing fixtures, low-voc finishes and use of materials with recycled content. The project is expected to achieve LEED Sliver certification.
