Current Projects
Virginia Commonwealth University
Located on two downtown campuses in Richmond, Va., Virginia Commonwealth University ranks among the top 100 universities in the country in sponsored research and enrolls 30,000 students in more than 195 certificate, undergraduate, graduate, professional and doctoral programs in 15 schools and one liberal arts college. MCV Hospitals, clinics and the health sciences schools of Virginia Commonwealth University constitute the VCU Medical Center, one of the leading academic medical centers in the country.
Monroe Park Campus Addition: Snead Hall and East Hall
New construction, including the $41.8 million, 114,900-square-foot, School of Engineering and $42.4 million, 135,000-square-foot School of Business. Schools are co-located to encourage both undergraduate and graduate interdisciplinary study. “This is the largest construction project in the university’s history, $228 million,” comments Pam Lepley. “Our 11-acre campus is nearly all under construction. They’re going great guns on this one.” Adding residential housing, new business and engineering buildings, a renovation for the VCU Brandcenter, and an 800-car parking lot, VCU is reinventing itself. The Monroe Park Addition opened in early 2008.
Monroe Park Campus Addition Residential College and parking
New construction: 408-bed residential college; 689-car parking deck; includes classroom space; retail operations including Chili’s Restaurant, Starbuck’s Café and a convenience market. $59.6 million. The parking deck was completed in December 2007 with an August 2008 completion for Residential College.
VCU Brandcenter
Renovation and new construction: renovation of 22,000 square feet Belting Building; new construction of 8,000 square feet home to the Ad Center, recognized by Creativity Magazine as the No. 1 advertising school in the country in 2005. $9.1 million. Opened December 2007.
Health and Life Sciences Laboratory School of Engineering Monroe Park Campus
New construction: 25,000 square feet state-of-the-art collaborative research environment that provides a facility to connect multiple programs. It will house 12 to 15 principal investigators and staff with a technical focus on systems biological engineering. The estimated completion is spring 2009.
VCU Medical Sciences Building II
New construction: 125,000 square feet research lab connecting floor-to-floor with the Kontos Building. It will house 60 primary investigators and support staff. $71.5 million; Completed in December 2008.
W. Baxter Perkinson Jr. Building School of Dentistry addition on MCV Campus
New construction: 54,000 square feet addition to School of Dentistry on Leigh Street; housing research, clinic and teaching space. $19.7 million. Under construction with estimated completion in summer 2009.
MCV Campus Recreation Center Addition
New construction: 31,000 square feet addition to the Recreation and Aquatic Center; includes new dining services, additional recreation space and student services meeting space. $15.7 million. Construction begins January 2008 with an estimated completion in fall 2009.
VCU Massey Cancer Center Addition
Construction of an 80,000-square-foot building with 72 research labs and a two-level, 109-car parking deck at $41.8 million. Opened 2006.
How do you expand research capabilities and encourage interdisciplinary research? Create a collaborative work environment says Pam Lepley, director of the Office of Communications and Public Relations for Virginia Commonwealth University. Adding 80,000 square feet of collaborative lab space to the school’s Massey Cancer Center, Lepley says the new additions have been crucial in recruiting top-level cancer researchers and encouraging dialogue between research groups. “If you make a discovery in one area that has logical implications in another area, this space gives you the ability to interact with your fellow researchers; it gives you the ability to walk across the room and consult with another researcher while you’re right now,” she says. “Research is very creative where someone says something a few feet away and it’s a Eureka! moment for yourself.”
Eighth Street Parking Deck
Research facilities aren’t the only things expanding at VCU. As of spring 2007, the school’s brand new $17.9-million, 1,000-car parking deck opened to the public and helped solve a few of the parking problems in the downtown area. “Our medical center employs more than 7,000 people, so this parking deck is very much needed,” comments Pam Lepley. “This is so that we can keep parking close to the medical center for patients and visitors … anything that’s going to help alleviate some of the pressure in parking in the city is welcomed by anyone.”
Hunton Hall
When VCU medical students are looking for a break in between classes, they’ll head to the one place nobody expects — church. The recently renovated Hunton Hall (formerly a church) will provide a study, recreational and eating facility for future doctors hard at work. “It is a historical building, so the history of it really has been maintained, but as far as the functionality of it, the students were more interested in a student commons that would afford them good study space and meeting space,” Pam Lepley says. A $6-million renovation.
Hibbs Hall
For VCU, Hibbs Hall is both something old and something new. Dating back to the 1960s, the school has gutted and updated this building with $10.6 million worth of high-tech classrooms. These brand new classrooms will come with updated audiovisual equipment and Internet access, giving faculty the ability to incorporate technology into their teaching, says Pam Lepley. “The faculty really appreciates it and of course the students benefit because they’re in a state-of-the-art classroom,” she says. “Our returning students love it and our faculty members are thrilled with it.”
Sanger Hall Lab Renovation
Housing medical researchers from a wide array of disciplines (everything from organ transplant research to drug and alcohol studies), Sanger Hall’s four-phase, $60 million upgrade is designed to help VCU establish its place as one of the top medical research institutions in the country. “We have a very aggressive plan to build our research program, so in order to do that, you have to be able to offer top-level space and you have to be able to recruit a lot more scientists than we have right now,” comments Pam Lepley. “This is all part of that investment to growing our research program.”
School of Nursing
Conducting groundbreaking research is only part of VCU’s overarching goal. Creating an elite fleet of future health care practitioners and researchers is the other. Adding four floors and 70,000 square feet of research and training space to the VCU nursing program, the university is ensuring that the next generation of nurse practitioners will receive the latest and greatest in training and technology. “The most important part of the new School of Nursing is to address the nursing shortage here in Virginia. It really is a critical shortage and this building is going to help us increase the number of students,” states Pam Lepley. “…a big hope is to turn out more nursing faculty, which will allow us to teach more nurses.” $17.1 million. Completed 2007. 11th and Leigh Streets.
Critical Care Hospital
If you’ve got an emergency medical condition, this is where you’ll want to end up. Central Virginia’s only level-one trauma center, the 15-story Critical Care Hospital will specialize in intensive care. From head injuries to cardiac arrests to burn cases, the new facility (scheduled to open in the summer of 2008) will house round-the-clock specialists in every major trauma field. “It’s got all of the intensive care units in one hospital, so you have all of that equipment and staff in one place,” states Pam Lepley. “This is really the first of its kind in Virginia.” $192 million.
The hospital includes patient beds, surgical suites, a public lobby area, a burn center, acute care and a secure care center.