Worcester, MA – A ceremonial ribbon cutting was held on June 7 for UMass Chan’s new $350 million education and research building.
Joining representatives from UMass Chan Medical School, The University of Massachusetts Building Authority (UMBA), and World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at the unveiling were construction manager Shawmut Design and Construction and architects ARC/Architectural Resources Cambridge and ZGF Architects. TERVA/Trident is the owner’s project manager for the project.
The construction and design teams for UMass Chan’s new education and research building
With 350,000sf of research and educational spaces spread over nine floors, the new education and research building will support the missions of all three graduate schools on campus. It will be home to more than 70 principal investigators and their teams, with advanced core facilities to support basic research, translational studies, and clinical trials of new therapeutics developed at UMass Chan and around the world.
The design features a 2-story staircase joining the ground level with the second floor. The stairs, built both inside and outside of the building, are divided by a glass wall and provide access to a three-season outdoor terrace. A “neighborhood concept” utilized in the lab spaces creates a central core of benches and research bays surrounded by support spaces designed to encourage spontaneous collaborations. To shape the foundation of the building, 40,000 cubic yards of soil were excavated. The building rises 183 feet above ground and contains 3,295 tons of steel, 379 miles of electrical wiring, and 3,000 linear feet of lab benches.
Expected to achieve LEED Gold certification for energy efficiency and sustainability, the building includes the first geothermal system on campus, featuring 75 boreholes dug 500 feet deep designed to heat and cool the building in the most efficient and sustainable way possible. The system will provide 88% of the heating and 50% of the cooling needs and is expected to reduce the carbon footprint by approximately 2,400 tons per year, a 55% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. The exterior facade consists of 1,520 sections of unitized curtain wall made of prefabricated rectangular units with three layers of glass set in insulated aluminum and steel frames. This design exceeds the state’s building code for thermal performance by 22%, minimizing heat loss in winter and reducing heat gain in summer.
The project was completed on time and on budget and exceeded goals set by the University’s Building Authority for hiring women and minority-owned businesses to contribute to the construction.
“Today’s ceremonial ribbon cutting heralds the start of a new, dynamic chapter in UMass Chan’s unfolding narrative; one where we will witness a convergence of hope and expectation, aspiration and realization, intent and impact,” said UMass Chan Medical School Chancellor Michael F. Collins. “The opening of the NERB represents a substantial down payment in furtherance of our institutional commitment to change the course of the history of disease – in Worcester, for the world.”
