State-of-the-Art Medical Building Underway at GRU
AUGUSTA, Ga. — A new project is underway at Georgia Regents University (GRU) in Augusta. Construction of the new, four-story, 172,000-square-foot J. Harold Harrison, M.D. Education Commons will provide needed space for the growing Georgia university and will serve dentistry, medical and nursing students.
The project initially began as a way to bring relief to the growing campus and increase class sizes from 190 to 240 in the next seven years. The medical facility will include two 300-seat auditoriums, two 150-seat classrooms, 13 small group classrooms and a 42,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art simulation center.
The $76.5 million building will be the first education commons building on campus at GRU. San Francisco-based HOK worked as the architect on the project, while New York-based Skanska USA Building Inc. served as the main contractor.
“The Education Commons has a state-of-the-art design that has been carefully created to reflect the future of medicine,” said Chris Soffee, president of Gleeds USA, which provided consulting services on three previous construction projects at the university. “We are confident that our experience and demonstrable professionalism in both the education and health care sectors will allow us to exceed our client’s expectations and deliver fantastic results for the students, faculty and staff at GRU.”
All of the classrooms in the education commons building will have “video capture” and broadcast capability in order to connect to other facilities and cities. The high-tech building will also feature responsive mannequins in its simulation center, helping students gain the hands-on and real-life experience in the medical field.
The project is slated for completion on June 30, 2014 and the university will move in by mid-August, in time for the fall 2014 semester.
Other Projects in the Works
Other projects taking place on the campus involves the demolition and renovation of the existing laboratory within the R&E building on campus, along with additional laboratories created by renovating adjacent administrative space. Also in a preliminary stage are talks about a combined pharmacy-training center with GRU and the University of Georgia College (UGA) of Pharmacy. Planning is currently underway to look at different ideas for a new space for the pharmacy center, which includes faculty members from other institutions. The focus, however, is to keep furthering the research teamwork, according to Dr. Susan C. Fagan, assistant dean for the UGA College of Pharmacy campus at GRU.
“The center is really to promote this kind of collaboration where I think the pharmaceutical scientists can really assist the busy clinician with the design and implementation of clinical trials,” Fagan said.