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Harry T. Lester Hall Medical Education and Research Building

Published 6/19/2013
Cave Automatic Virtual Environment
Second Floor Plan
Clinical Skills Suite

A new 100,000-sf, four-story medical education and research building—coupled with 70,400 sf in renovations to the existing Jones Institute/Lewis Hall/Brickell Library complex and a new landscaped courtyard—has allowed Eastern Virginia Medical School to increase enrollment in the medical doctoral program by 30 percent, to 150 students, and in the physician assistant program by 60 percent.

The $28,600,000 new building provides research laboratories, core labs, and support facilities for the Leroy T. Canoles Jr. Cancer Research Center. The second floor is dedicated to the Center for Simulation and Immersive Learning, a clinical skills teaching and assessment facility for medical and health-professions students that includes exam rooms, clinical-skills rooms with an associated observation room, a virtual-reality suite, a professional skills lab, and meeting and office space.  Teaching venues include flexible lecture halls, classrooms, and seminar rooms.

The second-floor virtual reality suite—the CAVE (Cave Automatic Virtual Environment)—is a room-sized virtual reality environment that uses advanced technology to create a simulated setting for medical and health sciences education. A combination of high-resolution stereoscopic projection, 3-D computer graphics, and 3-D surround sound work in concert to create an immersive experience. The CAVE has the capacity to provide students with a multifaceted, interior view of the human brain, help residents perfect their technique in robot-assisted surgeries, allow faculty to practice triage care during a major disaster, and train patients to overcome phobias by offering them a safe yet realistic setting in which to confront their fears.

The exterior design of the new building features cast stone to relate to the Brickell Library, and brick to blend seamlessly with the neighboring Jones Institute.  A new landscaped courtyard links the Medical Sciences Building to Lewis Hall and Brickell Library.

The $15,725,000 renovations to Jones, Brickell, and Lewis Halls create a new entry to the Brickell Library and provide new student social areas, computer classrooms, seminar rooms, laboratories, an “information commons,” a bookstore, café, and administrative spaces.

The new building achieved LEED Silver certification, with energy conservation as a key driver.  The building uses 20 percent less energy than the ASHRAE baseline for this building type.  Sustainable elements include low-flow plumbing fixtures, sun shades to reduce heat gain and make optimal use of natural lighting, high-efficiency glass, deep vestibules at entrances, and high levels of insulation. The renovations to the existing three-building complex achieved significant operational improvements. HVAC, lighting, plumbing, fire protection, and security systems were all upgraded to current energy-efficient standards. The loading docks for all four buildings now share a common, centralized truck yard, improving traffic patterns.

Organization Project Role
Ellenzweig
Design Architect
Ellenzweig
Laboratory Planner
Hanbury Evans Wright Vlattas + Company
Architect-of-Record
Hanbury Evans Wright Vlattas + Company
Landscape Architect
McPherson Design Group
Structural Engineer
Newcomb & Boyd
Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing, and Fire Protection Engineer
Draper Aden Associates
Civil Engineer
H.L. Development Group
Owner’s Representative
W.M. Jordan
Builder
Kawneer
Aluminum Curtainwall and Storefront Systems
Triangle Brick
Brick Veneer
Cast Stone, Inc.
Cast Stone
Premier Millwork
Architectural Casework
Carlisle SynTec
TPO Roofing
W.H. Stovall & Co.
Composite Metal Panels
Master Terrazzo Technologies
Terrazzo Flooring
Hunter Douglas Contract
Window Shades
Mid Atlantic Fire Suppression
Fire Suppression
Yates
HVAC Pumps
Trane Company
Air Handling Units
Trane Company
Fan Coil Units
Trane Company
Energy Recovery Units
Rittling
Radiant Heat Ceiling Panels
Titus
Grilles, Registers, Diffusers
Twin City
Lab Exhaust Fans
Trane Company
Building Controls
Lutron
Lighting Controls
Otis Elevator
Elevators
New England Lab
Lab Equipment
Bigelow Carpeting (The Mohawk Group)
Carpet
Armstrong World Industries
Acoustical Ceilings