Harry T. Lester Hall Medical Education and Research Building

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.