The selection of HOK, which has a global portfolio of health sciences facilities and academic buildings, and an international reputation for sustainable design, comes after an international competition that focused the expertise of four elite architectural teams on design possibilities for the new UB medical school.

HOK was announced as the winning design team at an event held last evening in the Eleanor and Wilson Greatbatch Pavilion at the Darwin Martin House.

“This is a very exciting outcome for our university and our community as we move forward with this vital next phase in the UB 2020 vision of excellence,” said President Satish K. Tripathi. “The new downtown home for UB’s medical school needs to be extraordinary on many levels.

“This building will be a linchpin in our downtown campus, an anchor in the Buffalo health sciences community and a hub for excellence in medical research, education and patient care. And it will be a prominent new feature in the skyline of a city known worldwide for its architectural treasures,” Tripathi said.

“Responding to all these needs is a tall order, but HOK has amply demonstrated that it has all the right tools to rise to the challenge: innovative vision, expertise in green design and in the planning of 21st century health science facilities, and a clear understanding of the unique potential of our medical school and the communities it serves.”

Robert G. Shibley, dean of the School of Architecture and Planning and head of the selection committee, said four teams of the world’s top architects were selected from among 19 teams in five countries that originally vied for the opportunity to design this building.

“The teams selected each produced a design experiment that taught us something about the architectural possibilities for the building, from how it might meet the ground to the kinds of learning environments and public spaces it could create,” he said.

“Now we will build upon these experiments through a dialogue with the medical school, the community and the stellar HOK team, guided by perspectives from some of the world’s best architectural minds,” Shibley said.