Harry T. Lester Hall, Partial Renovations to Lewis Hall and Brickell Library, and Vivarium

A new Medical Education and Research Building, plus renovations to two older facilities to enhance student life, support Eastern Virginia Medical School’s growth and substantially expands the space available for education and research programs. The new facility is the latest to be constructed on an urban medical campus with buildings of disparate architectural styles. To create harmony, the design team created façades of different materials: one that would complement Lewis Hall and Brickell Library, and another that faces the public street and blends with other buildings.

The new building provides the most advanced educational and translational research space including core labs, multi-disciplinary teaching labs, a clinical skills/simulation center, lecture halls, classrooms, and offices. In addition, it features teaching observation areas and modeling and simulation technologies that allow students to operate on mannequins. All classrooms and labs can be divided into smaller spaces according to need. Numerous breakout spaces are also part of the design, with power and data outlets to enable a change of scenery, relaxation, and collaboration.

A new dining area, game room and lounge provide places to relax and oversee everything that's going on in the building. In addition, the school got its first-ever campus green, designed with amenities to support a tent for fundraising events, graduation exercises, and other social occasions. A flexible ground-level lecture space opens onto this new outdoor courtyard for inside/outside accommodation during events.