A New College of Medicine

Project represents Florida's first new medical school in 35 years

By Debra Wood

In 2000, the Florida Legislature created the Florida State University College of Medicine in Tallahassee, the state's first new medical school in 35 years. The university began designing a facility for the college one year later, and in 2003, a joint venture of Centex Rooney Construction Co., Orlando, and LLT Building Corp., Tallahassee, broke ground.

"This was a building created and designed as the College of Medicine was in its infancy and growing," said John Beidler, the college's facilities manager. "There was a lot of development that occurred as time went on."

The school began admitting students in 2001, teaching them basic-science courses in temporary classrooms and laboratories before sending them to three regional campuses across the state for hands-on experience caring for patients. As FSU's regional-campus concept evolved, new people joined the college and technologies changed, but the design and construction teams remained flexible to accommodate evolving needs, Beidler said.

The $54 million, 299,372-sq.-ft. facility includes a four-story education and administration building, now complete; a four-story research building, the first section of which is done; and a 300-seat auditorium, now under construction.

"The building is beautiful and functional," said Daryl Ellison, FSU associate director for facilities design and construction and manager of the College of Medicine project. "It is going to cost between $175 and $180 per square foot by the time we are through, which for this type of building, architecture and setting is a bargain."

The original plan called for four separate phases, so students could continue receiving instruction in the adjacent transitional class space. Centex Rooney/LLT provided value-engineering services and recommended building phases one and two concurrently.

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"I think they were looking at probably four years for this project, and now it's 2.5," said John Daum, project manager for Centex Rooney. "They could put the money in the building instead of paying people to be here and build it."

Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum of Tampa, in association with Bill Elliot and Brad Innes at Elliot Marshall Innes of Tallahassee, designed the building to blend into the existing FSU campus.

"The building is a modern interpretation of the Jacobean revival, sort of English Free Style," said Innes, a principal with Elliot Marshall Innes. "We didn't mimic the older buildings. We reinterpreted different, obvious stylistic motifs in a new manner."

Deep-red brick and precast concrete clad the exterior facade. Concrete tile roofs on most of the buildings give the appearance of a traditional slate roof. A copper-screen, mansard-style roof accents the administration building.

"The traditional appearance is to keep the cohesiveness of the campus, but once you get inside, the laboratories are high-tech and advanced," said Foard Meriweather, project director for HOK. "It's a play of traditional vs. modern."

Centex Rooney/LLT received a notice to proceed on July 1, 2003. The medical school moved into the first two phases in the fall of 2004, and the company began demolition of the existing transitional campus late in 2004.

The school is located on a floodplain, so the contractor built up the grade 16 ft. and installed 4-ft.-thick waterproof retaining walls and a 10-ft.-thick, reinforced-concrete, spread-footing foundation. During preconstruction, Centex Rooney suggested building a lower level as shell space for future expansion, rather than bringing in fill dirt and eliminating any lower level. The school agreed and found enough savings from other ideas to build out the 22,000-sq.-ft. space.

The first floor of the new buildings was about even with the roof of the temporary quarters, which were only about 60 ft. from the construction activity. The school put up plywood barricades with Plexiglas windows to protect pedestrians and ran new utility lines to keep the existing school's air conditioning, electrical, water and plumbing functional during construction.

"The challenging part of doing this work so close to their existing operations was tricky," Daum said. The road and the first floor of the new building were so high - after being built up - that the road was next to the roof of the old facility. "We had to make sure we had a stabilized earth road," Daum added. "Trucks were driving almost on their roof."

The phase-one administrative building contains many upscale finishes. Crews installed granite flooring, a grand staircase and cherry-wood paneling in conference rooms.

"The research area was heavy in mechanical systems and electrical systems and a lot more specialized than your typical classrooms," Daum said.

The research space and gross anatomy labs required many specialty items, such as cadaver storage containers, continual-exhaust hoods, biosafety cabinets, 100 percent air exchange and a high volume of air movement, 15 times per hour. All of the ductwork is stainless steel to prevent corrosion.

"The ductwork above is immense," Daum said. "You can stand in the ductwork supplying the building."

Phase four will contain animal laboratories, with a separate water purification system connected to a well, because animals such as frogs require water without chlorine. This area also will have standby heating and cooling in case of a power loss.

The school prides itself on being a leader in teaching medical students how to access information online with laptops and handheld personal digital assistants. Video conferencing allows students at the regional campuses to participate in lectures. Classroom tables are wired with electrical outlets for recharging batteries and data ports. Students also can access a wireless network.

The wireless environment extends to an outdoor courtyard, used by students for studying and for group activities.

The College of Medicine complex of buildings represents the first in a series of science structures FSU plans to build at the western end of its campus. The university broke ground in March 2004 on a new $40 million, 103,000-sq.-ft. psychology building just to the east of the medical school. To the south, the university plans a $36 million, 145,000-sq.-ft. life sciences teaching and research center, now in the bidding process.

Project Team:

Owner: Florida State University, Tallahassee
Construction Manager: Centex Rooney/LLT, a joint venture of Centex Rooney Construction Co., Orlando, and LLT Building Corp., Tallahassee
Architect: Hellmuth Obata + Kassabaum, Tampa
Architect: Elliot Marshall Innes, Tallahassee
Mechanical Engineer: Tilden Lobnitz Cooper, Orlando
Structural Engineer: Walter P. Moore & Associates, Orlando
Electrical Contractor: Regency Electric, Jacksonville, Fla.
Mechanical Contractor: Vause Mechanical Contracting, Tallahassee
Mechanical Contractor: Miller's Plumbing Co., Tallahassee

Useful sources:

FSU
http://med.fsu.edu/news/2003/groundbreaking.asp