Solution
Working in tandem, Burns & McDonnell and Whiting-Turner partnered with MU to design and construct the Roy Blunt NextGen Precision Health Building, a 265,000-square-foot facility for advancing research in precision medicine. MU needed a firm with extensive architecture experience to complete the job under a tight project schedule and brought on our team to provide architectural services.
The building enables 30 principal investigators (PIs) and 300 graduate assistants to conduct precision medical research. To offer a collaborative approach to individualized healthcare, the facility brings together healthcare professionals, engineers, and medical and veterinary science students, as well as government and commercial enterprises. It is located near MU Health Care’s hospitals and clinics and is available to MU researchers and healthcare professionals.
The facility serves as a modern space for the development of medical advancements, while also complementing the existing architecture found on the MU main campus in Columbia. The design incorporates floor-to-ceiling glass walls that provide natural light to brighten work areas, as well as spectacular views of the campus from throughout the building. Tall ceilings, generous windows and high-quality interior finishes speak to MU’s commitment to creating a signature research facility that enhances the system’s academic experience, while attracting world-renowned researchers and industry partners.
To address one of the major concerns, a vivarium — where small and large animals are kept under conditions simulating their natural environment — is a key part of the design. In addition, there is extensive multidisciplinary laboratory space. The Roy Blunt NextGen Precision Health Building offers unparalleled wet and support labs suited for chemical, biological and computational research. Labs are organized as parts of neighborhoods with associated support functions, equipment, work areas, collaboration spaces and huddle rooms.
The facility also features a state-of-the-art visualization space and a three-device imaging suite. It houses a magnetic resonance imaging machine, and single-photon emission computed tomography and positron emission computed tomography equipment. There is also space for pilot-scale manufacturing.
Also included among the facility’s advanced analytical instrumentation is a state-of-the-art Magnetom Terra, a 7-Tesla MRI scanner, one of the first installed in the nation. This scanner provides higher-resolution images to offer clinical insights into neurologic diseases, including multiple sclerosis and epilepsy, and musculoskeletal conditions that involve the cartilage, muscle and fascia of the knee joint.
