The $132 million Brehm Tower was unveiled on March 1, 2010. The new facility expands the UMHS’s capacity for eye care, research and education, and unites diabetes researchers.
The Brehm Tower at the W.K. Kellogg Eye Center Complex includes 230,000 square feet spanning eight stories and makes a striking addition to the skyline of the medical campus. It is adjacent to the existing Kellogg Eye Center research tower on Wall Street in Ann Arbor.
Designed by Massachusetts-based architectural practice TSA, the new building houses seven eye care clinics with new suites for refractive and cosmetic surgery. On the upper floors, the Brehm Center for Diabetes Research and laboratories for vision scientists, will foster discoveries in both ophthalmology and diabetes.
TSA created a building that is modern in design along with offering a warm and welcoming environment. Large windows and a full wall of glass panels on the building’s facade allow natural light to fill the clinics and common space, of particular benefit to patients whose vision is impaired. Clinics have space for patient education and spacious waiting areas to aid patient flow. Research areas feature open laboratories to encourage collaboration and provide flexibility as research projects grow. The facility features shared procedure and equipment areas, a central connecting staircase and centrally located lab services.
Made possible by part of a gift given to the U-M Medical School by Delores and William Brehm in 2004, the building also serves as the main laboratory component of the U-M Comprehensive Diabetes Center.
On April 23, 2010, UMHS will formally dedicate the building with a ‘Dedicated to Discovery’ ceremony.
