Center for Health Sciences
University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, Washington
The Center for Health Sciences at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington is the first building designed within the guidelines of the university's new master plan. The 42,000-square-foot facility will house undergraduate psychology and exercise science departments, graduate occupational therapy and physical therapy programs and a new undergraduate neuroscience program. While grouping these departments under one roof enables development of an innovative curriculum that will promote an interdisciplinary approach to learning, it challenges the architects to meet the needs of four diverse academic programs in one building.
A second programming challenge is to house the on-campus clinic operated by the School of Occupational Therapy and the School of Physical Therapy. Open to the public, the clinic offers graduate students a unique learning environment in which to practice under the supervision of licensed physical therapists. Interaction between the university and the community is a significant part of the building program, which features state-of-the-art clinical spaces for sports physical therapy, oncology physical therapy, neurorehabilitation, and other specialty services. The new Center will also include a motion analysis laboratory, animal learning laboratories, and a psychology research suite. All departments will share teaching classrooms, student computer labs and faculty offices.
The Center for Health Sciences will extend the university's rich campus fabric to the south end of campus, as specified in the master plan. Sited at the edge of a dense grove of cedar and fir trees, the building reflects existing campus buildings in scale and mass, while defining the new Commencement Walk. The design echoes the university's traditional architecture with its simple gable roof forms, projecting bay windows, and a warm palette of materials including brick, stone and terra cotta. On the east side of the building, a brick retaining wall wraps around the clinic's 4,000-square-foot 'mobility park,' which offers simulated outdoor environments for the occupational and physical therapy programs.
The detailed project program and conceptual design phases were completed in January 2006. The Center for Health Sciences, which is being designed to meet LEED Silver certification standards, is currently in the fundraising phase with schematic design scheduled to begin in 2008.
A second programming challenge is to house the on-campus clinic operated by the School of Occupational Therapy and the School of Physical Therapy. Open to the public, the clinic offers graduate students a unique learning environment in which to practice under the supervision of licensed physical therapists. Interaction between the university and the community is a significant part of the building program, which features state-of-the-art clinical spaces for sports physical therapy, oncology physical therapy, neurorehabilitation, and other specialty services. The new Center will also include a motion analysis laboratory, animal learning laboratories, and a psychology research suite. All departments will share teaching classrooms, student computer labs and faculty offices.
The Center for Health Sciences will extend the university's rich campus fabric to the south end of campus, as specified in the master plan. Sited at the edge of a dense grove of cedar and fir trees, the building reflects existing campus buildings in scale and mass, while defining the new Commencement Walk. The design echoes the university's traditional architecture with its simple gable roof forms, projecting bay windows, and a warm palette of materials including brick, stone and terra cotta. On the east side of the building, a brick retaining wall wraps around the clinic's 4,000-square-foot 'mobility park,' which offers simulated outdoor environments for the occupational and physical therapy programs.
The detailed project program and conceptual design phases were completed in January 2006. The Center for Health Sciences, which is being designed to meet LEED Silver certification standards, is currently in the fundraising phase with schematic design scheduled to begin in 2008.
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