Today marks the official completion of the Collaborative Life Sciences Building and Skourtes Tower, a next-generation health and science education and research facility that uniquely combines the resources and brainpower of three nationally respected universities under one roof.
By sharing the $295 million state-of-the art building, Oregon Health & Science University, Oregon State University and Portland State University will effectively grow their health and science programs without duplicating education and research space – an inspired use of limited state resources.
“At OHSU what we’ve found is that when we are open to the power of partnership, and willing to work with others to solve problems in the name of the public good, the opportunities are boundless. The Collaborative Life Sciences Building takes collaboration to the next level,” said OHSU President Joe Robertson, M.D., M.B.A.
Rather than divide the approximately 650,000-square-foot building among the universities by floor, the design and construction team built in integrated labs and shared classrooms. Every aspect of the new building is designed to encourage interaction among university faculty, graduates and undergraduates, from shared labs with electron microscopy and other highly specialized instrumentation to shared office space for OHSU, OSU and PSU faculty to promote frequent idea sharing and intermingling to state-of-the-art simulation centers where health care providers, students and staff across all health care professions can train side by side.
“For PSU, this building offers desperately needed lab, research and classroom space for our health and science majors — among the fastest growing fields of study at PSU,” said PSU President Wim Wiewel, Ph.D.
The Collaborative Life Sciences Building will also provide capacity to increase class sizes for OHSU’s medical, nursing and physician assistant students, as well as the OSU/OHSU pharmacy program -- all of which will help mitigate the state’s health care professionals workforce shortages.
“The Collaborative Life Sciences Building is a wonderful example of how well OSU, OHSU and PSU collaborate on behalf of Oregonians,” said OSU President Ed Ray, Ph.D. “This new facility will have a major impact on the OSU College of Pharmacy’s program on the OHSU campus. It provides dedicated and expanded instructional space and room for additional faculty aimed at providing the best clinical training possible for future pharmacists.”
Skourtes Tower will include a state-of-the-art School of Dentistry and dental clinics that serve the public and will bring dental students under the same roof with their nursing, allied health, pharmacy and medicine colleagues.
The Collaborative Life Sciences Building was funded by a unique public-private partnership model, including $110 million in state bonds, $92 million in OHSU institutional funding, $83 million in OHSU philanthropy (including a $40 million anonymous gift to OHSU, and $10 million from Bonnie and Gene Skourtes, D.M.D.), and $10 million from TriMet.
Located within OHSU’s new Schnitzer Campus at Portland’s South Waterfront, the building will be accessible by Portland Streetcar, Portland Aerial Tram and a new MAX light rail line, slated to open September 2015, that will connect South Waterfront and downtown Portland with southeast Portland. The building’s sustainable features include green roofs, storm water collection for non-potable water uses throughout the building, and energy-efficient lighting and climate control. The building's design and construction team anticipate a LEED Platinum certification.