The facility has been designed by the Duluth office of LHB, Incorporation, in association with Chicago’s Ross-Barney Architects. St. Paul-based Shaw-Lundquist Associates, Incorporation served as the general contractor. The building will span over an area of 36,712 square feet. Among its various features are large teaching labs equipped with latest technology, private training and testing rooms, critical care rooms, patient care areas, a hospital nursing simulation centre, simulated clinic with exam rooms, and advanced classrooms.
The facility will abide by several green norms such as high-performance heating and ventilation units which run low on energy usage. It will also sport 25 tubular skylights mounted on the roof by Solatube International. The skylights will offer natural light penetration in the interior and will consist of a built-in diffuser to shut-off natural light as per one’s convenience.
The building landscape will reclaim some portion of the bedrock excavated during construction. The remaining bedrock will be used as a trough to prevent entry of water run-off into Miller Creek. The floor of the building will be elevated 18 inches above a concrete slab with utility space underneath. Use of non-toxic products during construction and in the interior, and installation of public artwork made of recycled materials will add to the sustainability.
The project has been financed through 2010 State of Minnesota bonding funds.
