Kansas University Health and Education Building

University of Kansas | Kansas City, KS | August 2017

The project is an $82 million, 170,000 square-foot, five-story building that will serve as the primary teaching venue for KU’s medical, nursing and allied health profession schools and it’s been said to be the only building in the US that has all three education facilities under one roof. Each floor has a specific focus in mind.

The ground floor includes a 500 person classroom that can be divided in half by a skywall recessed into the ceiling. From above, the roof of the classroom has 3 skylights designed to look like
the Flint Hills of Kansas with a green roof full of native vegetation. The main floor features a lobby, restaurant with coffee bar and stairs leading to the connecting bridge.

The 2nd floor is set up as homerooms for School of Medicine students and connects directly to the bridge which features art on the ceiling by local artists. The 3rd and 4th floor is where the magic happens: 20 simulation rooms, six surgery suites, a pharmacy, a waiting room, and viewing spaces for professors and students to oversee each scenario.

The 5th and final floor is set up for occupational therapists, physical therapists and nurses with apartments fully furnished to simulate in-home care practice. The east wing of the building is brick. The entire west wing of the building envelope from the 2nd floor up is glass with a Terracotta feature wall around the entire 3rd and 4th floors. The view of this portion of the building when lit up at night is stunning for anyone passing by.

Our scope of work on this project included: exterior framing and sheathing, metal studs and drywall, polished plaster, acoustical plaster, ACT, stainless steel and decorative metal, and the terracotta feature wall.

  • McCownGordon

  • Educational & Institutional

  • Kansas City Commercial

  • Exterior framing and sheathing, metal studs and drywall, polished plaster, acoustical plaster, ACT, stainless steel and decorative metal, specialty walls & ceilings