OHSU/OUS Collaborative Life Sciences Building
This past fall, three of Oregon's top universities broke ground on a unique project which will combine the resources of these nationally respected institutions to benefit all 96,000 square miles of the state. The OUS/OHSU Collaborative Life Sciences Building (CLSB) will place portions of Oregon Health & Science University, Oregon State University, and Portland State University under one roof. In doing so, the facility will expand partnerships between the universities, expand their teaching facilities, class sizes, research activities and create new employment opportunities. Download the CLSB Factsheet
Worksite Cam
View live footage of the Collaborative Life Sciences Building Project as it unfolds. The Camera is situated on the top of the Center for Health and Healing and take new photos every 60 seconds. Please 'refresh' or 'reload' this page, or click on the image, to view updates.
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The Project
The 500,000 square foot OHSU/OUS Collaborative Life Sciences Building will include lecture halls, classrooms, labs, specialty research centers, OHSU School of Dentistry facilities, and offices for health professionals and undergraduate and graduate education involving students and instructors from multiple institutions.
In total, the building will offer approximately 270,000 square feet of new programmatic space (Education: 185,000; Research: 85,000) , in addition to 7,500 square feet for retail and food service activities, 16,000 square feet for building support and 430 new parking spaces. Space planning is still in development; as with any project, the design and construction phase is an iterative process during which the building's configuration will ultimately solidify. The ground breaking ceremony will occur October 13, 2011 with construction starting later in the Fall.
The project has two distinct parts that will be completed simultaneously. The first part of the project is a joint venture that is funded by the Oregon University System and OHSU. This project has a $160M price tag that is funded through $110M in state bonds ($50M in Article XI G-Bonds and $60M in Article XI F-Bonds), an anonymous $40M gift from an OHSU donor and $10M in TriMet support for a new transit station adjacent to the building. OHSU will assume debt servicing for $30M of the state-issued Article 11 F-bonds.
The second part of the project has a price tag of $135M that will be funded by $43M in OHSU Philanthropy and $92M in OHSU Institutional funding. This will provide space for the new OHSU Center for Spatial System in Biomedicine, additional laboratory space for cutting edge research in basic and applied science, and clinical and educational space for the School of Dentistry in the Skourtes Tower. The relocation of the SOD clinical facility from Marquam Hill to the Skourtes Tower was made possible in part by $10M gift from Dr. Gene and Bonnie Skourtes, a $5M gift from ODS, a $4.3M pledge to outfit the school's clinic with state-of-the-art equipment, and $7.75M raised to date by hundreds of other supporters. These significant gifts are a part of a $43M dollar fundraising initiative that will ensure a second century of innovation, education, and service for the OHSU School of Dentistry.
The architectural team of SERA/CO has been selected to design the whole project. SERA Architects will perform the role of Executive Architect and has been assisting with the development of Portland and the State of Oregon since its inception in 1968. Co Architects, based in southern California, will be performing the role of Design Architect and has been dedicated to the programming, planning and design of academic facilities for over 20 years. JE Dunn Construction, a nationwide company with offices in Portland and Seattle, will lead the construction of the building as general contractor and Day CPM will provide oversight of the project on behalf of OHSU and OUS.
Initial design for the building is currently under Design Review by the City of Portland. Detailed schematic design is currently underway and includes key stakeholders (faculty and staff)from each school and program to ensure that the building meets programmatic needs. The project schedule has construction starting towards the end of 2011 and initial occupancy will occur in August 2013 to allow PSU to deliver its expanded classes in Biology and Chemistry. Full completion is expected by the spring of 2014 to allow OHSU and OSU academic programs to occupy the building.
The Programs
OHSU's educational space in the building will accommodate an inter-professional simulation center as well as the first two years of the Undergraduate Medical Education Program (MD)and all four years of the Doctor of Dental Medicine Program (DMD). The Physician Assistant Program, the Radiation Technology Program, the associated directors' and deans' offices, and student and faculty support services round out the list of other anticipated educational occupants. The move to this new facility will allow for the expansion of the MD program from 120 to 160 students, the DMD Program from 75 to 90 students, and the PA Program from 38 to 48 students per year.
The Oregon State University/OHSU Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) program currently located in the Center for Health and Healing will also move to the CLSB and will have the capacity to increase its class size from 90 to 115 students in the future. In moving to this new facility the Chemistry and Biology programs from Portland State University will also have the option of expanding its class size and will provide state of the art teaching laboratories for these undergraduate programs.
On the research side, the CLSB will offer highly specialized laboratory space for OHSU's Center for Spatial Systems Biomedicine (OCSSB) led by the pioneering scientist Joe Gray, PhD and a dream team of collaborators that are working to create the “Google-Earth Map of Human Cells”. In addition the expanded research facility will allow OHSU to grow its research programs over the next 5-7 years. Currently OHSU brings in about $330M of external funding to support its research mission and this is projected to grow significantly as part of its strategic plan.
The College of Pharmacy will be moving and expanding its research activities in pharmacy practice and pharmaceutical sciences to the CLSB, increasing its drug discovery, dosing, and delivery programs. PSU is planning to move specific research programs in Chemistry, Biology, and Mathematics into the building that will complement the activities in the OCSSB. There is also ample laboratory space reserved for future collaborative research projects involving OHSU and OUS investigators. We anticipate that bringing all of these programs into a common space will create outstanding opportunities for research and educational collaboration.
