K-12 Education
A campus within a campus
UNM College of Nursing and Public Health Excellence
The University of New Mexico Health Sciences College of Nursing and Public Health Excellence building brings together two important healthcare colleges under one roof.
In collaboration with RDG Planning and Design, we designed the new building for sustainability, to promote student and staff wellness, and to provide ease of access to other healthcare education buildings in North Campus.
The new college of nursing design includes large classrooms, laboratory space on the second floor, and staff offices. Included in the design are multiple gathering spaces both inside and outside, to encourage connection and collaboration throughout the building.
The result is a collaborative learning environment that contributes to North Campus and provides increased capacity to train much-needed healthcare providers in New Mexico.
Engineering the right design
Collaboration between Dekker’s higher education architecture studio and in-house structural engineering studio was essential in achieving the unique features the client desired.
The exterior of the building features a mix of earthy terracotta and stucco with glass curtainwall, exposed structural steel, and a stainless-steel woven exterior screen to achieve a blend of traditional and modern architecture.
The new School of Nursing and Public Health Excellence is also one of the first buildings in New Mexico to incorporate a buckling-restrained braced frame lateral system. This system was required to accommodate a three-story building taller than 35 ft that still maintained an open layout.
One requirement was for all mechanical equipment to be concealed. Instead of using a basement to house that equipment – which would be expensive – a mechanical room was placed on the third level to house all MEP equipment. To accommodate this, the structural engineering team paid careful attention to floor vibration and acoustical requirements to avoid any negative impacts to the adjacent spaces. This solution both saves space and remains hidden away.
A more sustainable college of nursing design
The School of Nursing and Public Health Excellence is anticipating LEED Silver certification and was designed to exceed standard sustainability benchmarks. Sustainable design features include:
- Energy efficiency: The building’s operation uses half of the energy consumption of a typical college/university building. This is achieved with the efficiency of the building’s envelope, orientation on the site, and the mechanical systems used.
- Water efficiency: The building reduces indoor water use with low-flow fixtures, and reduces outdoor water consumption with efficient irrigation, xeric plantings, and using stormwater.
- Improved air quality: The design limits the use of building products with Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs).
- Surrounding density: The building’s main entrance is within walking distance of various transportation options, reducing vehicle usage and encouraging daily physical activity.
- Biophilic design: Gathering areas throughout the building to encourage conversation and collaboration. Offices pulled to the exterior wall distribute natural light equitably.
These sustainable design features align the College of Nursing and Public Health Excellence building with the University of New Mexico’s sustainability initiatives.
Caring for students devoted to care
Nursing and Public Health students devote their careers to caring for others. We centered student and staff wellness in our design because we wanted to make sure we were showing these students that same care.
The college of nursing design includes multiple gathering spaces, both inside and outside. This encourages collaboration and social interaction between students. By placing offices on the perimeter of the building, access to sunlight is distributed equally to all students and staff in the building. An outdoor courtyard space in the front of the building is designed adjacent to the classrooms, allowing for outdoor learning opportunities. All plants used in the landscape architecture are low water use with traditional and medicinal uses.
A central part of the new design was a large staircase. Centering the design around the staircase encourages students to care for their own health by taking the stairs. The large and inviting staircase becomes another moment for impromptu gathering and conversation and students and staff navigate the three floors.
The classrooms are thoughtfully designed to be flexible to accommodate different class sizes. A partition allows for smaller classrooms more typical in the College of Public Health, while the default size of the classrooms can easily accommodate the larger classes of the College of Nursing.
Our team utilized Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design elements like low walls and views in and out of the building to provide a safe and welcoming environment at the edge of the campus.
A campus within a campus
The new School of Nursing and Public Health Excellence centralizes offices and classrooms for the School of Nursing as well as Public Health. The building’s orientation and design were carefully considered to provide easy access to existing and future-planned healthcare education building in North Campus.
The U-shape of the building with large re-entrant corners creates a courtyard space and campus-like connection with the adjacent UNM Health Sciences College Domenici Center. The Domenici center provides hands-on simulation training for the nursing program and other healthcare programs on campus. By providing a quad between these two buildings, nursing students can access all their classes – both hands-on and lectures – in one area of campus.
The quad between the buildings was augmented with landscape architecture to provide green space and gathering areas for students to enjoy between classes.
The new School of Nursing and Public Health Excellence addresses the need for more healthcare providers in New Mexico by centralizing resources and increasing capacity for the School of Nursing and School of Public Health.
Client
University of New Mexico Health Sciences College
Location
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Size
75,001-100,000 sf
Disciplines
Beyond the Building
- Building Performance
- Community Benefit
- Modern Learning Environments
- Student Success
- Sustainability
- Wellness
