Neuroscience Leaders Tour Research Building Construction Site – Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis

Neuroscience leaders and other faculty and staff at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis got a close look at the Neuroscience Research Building during a recent tour of the construction site.

The framework for all 11 floors has been constructed and the process of enveloping the building in glass is underway. On the day of the visit, workers used giant suction cups to carefully place 12-foot-tall sheets of glass into place. The $616 million construction project is expected to be completed in August 2023.

The tour began in the basement, and its curious attendees climbed the stairs to what would become the entrance hall – now a vast, dusty, high-ceilinged space. When the building is complete, the lobby will span three stories and the full length of the building, and will be encased in glass.

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With just over a year of construction, the Neuroscience Research Pavilion of the Medical Campus is taking shape day by day. Several executives and others related to the construction project recently visited the site, guided by employees of McCarthy Building Companies Inc.

“What’s most impressive is the scale of the building,” said David Holtzman, MD, Barbara Burton and Reuben M. Morriss III professor emeritus of neurology and director of the Hope Center for Neurological Disorders, which will move en masse. in the new building. “I saw the blueprints, but didn’t really have a clue what it looked like until I got to see it in person.”

Key areas on each floor have been blocked off and the process of equipping them for specific purposes has begun. Co-working spaces dominate the center of each floor. Researchers from multiple labs will perform side-by-side experiments in these work areas, a setup designed to maximize communication and collaboration between labs. Smaller rooms with shared equipment for specialized scientific techniques surround the central research areas on each floor. Offices and workspaces line the edges of the building, providing views of the rest of the University of Washington medical campus and the neighboring Cortex innovation community. On the third floor, a rooftop terrace that will one day house a cafe and outdoor seating is beginning to take shape.

Along with Holtzman, the group included the heads of three of the five major neuroscience-related departments – Jin-Moo Lee, MD, PhD, Andrew B. and Gretchen P. Jones Professor and Head of the Department of Neurology; Linda J. Richards, PhD, Edison Professor of Neurobiology and Head of the Department of Neuroscience; and Gregory J. Zipfel, MD, Ralph G. Dacey Professor Emeritus and Chief of the Department of Neurological Surgery, and Chief Neurosurgeon at Barnes-Jewish Hospital.

See here for more information on the construction of the Neuroscience Research Pavilion.

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Gregory Zipfel, MD, (right) chief of the Department of Neurological Surgery at the University of Washington, tours the site where the Neuroscience Research Building is being constructed.

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Linda Richards, PhD, head of the Department of Neuroscience at the School of Medicine, takes photos of the Neuroscience Research Building during a construction site tour.

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Melissa Rockwell-Hopkins (right), associate vice chancellor for operations and facilities management at the School of Medicine, discusses the Neuroscience Research Building with David Holtzman, MD, director of the Hope Center for Neurological Diseases and director associate of the Knight Alzheimer Disease Research Center. Rockwell-Hopkins’ position allows him to oversee more than $1 billion in construction projects at the school.

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Jin-Moo Lee, MD, PhD, head of the Department of Neurology at the School of Medicine, takes photos of the Neuroscience Research Building while touring the construction site.

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Department heads and other leaders of the School of Medicine tour the site where the Neuroscience Research Building is being constructed.

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David Holtzman, MD, director of the Hope Center for Neurological Diseases and associate director of the Knight Alzheimer Disease Research Center at the University of Washington, surveys the space that could one day be his office in the Neuroscience Research Building under construction on the medical campus.

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Gregory Zipfel, MD, (left) chief of the Department of Neurological Surgery, discusses the Neuroscience Research Building with Richard Stanton, Vice Chancellor for Medical Finance and Administration, during a recent tour of the construction site.

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A member of a recent site visit to the Neuroscience Research Building checks out the view of the medical campus and surrounding area.