Education resource building underway at U.Va. medical campus

Construction is underway on a four-story, 46,000-square-foot Education Resource Center (ERC) on U.Va.’s medical campus in Charlottesville.

Designed by Los Angeles-based CO Architects, the project is being built for the University of Virginia Health System on a tight site between the Emily Couric Clinical Cancer Center and a hospital parking garage.

“The Education Resource Center takes advantage of its strategic location and is designed as a simple connector to allow people access to the cancer center, hospital, and garage,” Paul Zajfen, design principal at CO Architects, said in a statement.

His company also designed the Claude Moore Medical Education Building for U.Va. School of Medicine.

The ERC is due to open in 2016. Its four levels will support educational programs and patient services.  The basement will be used for diagnostic procedures, including radiology and MRI scans, while a pharmacy is planned for the ground floor.  The second floor, which will include a simulation lab for graduate medical education, also will provide access to an enclosed walkway leading over the street from the parking garage to the hospital lobby.

CO Architects is collaborating with Train & Partners of Charlottesville to achieve a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) silver rating for the project.  The brick and glass building is being designed with green roofs to absorb storm water run-off and provide visual interest from the hospital’s patient rooms across the street.