Final touches are being put on the downtown home of the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, so that, come January, classes can get underway. Here, At Buffalo offers a sneak peek—and we do mean peek—at some intriguing visual elements of the spectacular new structure. How does it all come together? Look for full coverage in our next issue.
The South Campus facilities—some more than 60 years old—didn’t always support faculty and students in their aspirations to achieve a world-class level of teaching, learning and research. And it was impossible to expand at the former location. But the new eight-story building is an ample 628,000 square feet, allowing the Jacobs School to increase its student body by 25 percent. Eight floors means eight ceilings, of course, and this one, in the lobby of the main entrance at Main and High streets, features geometric panels that manage acoustics while looking cool.
Exposed steel beams, tactile tilework, grand glass windows, gleaming terrazzo floors and warm terra-cotta exteriors. Underneath these finishing touches are important design objectives of the new building. The $375 million project creates a physical space that will foster interdisciplinary collaboration and interprofessional education; support high levels of research; and help to attract and retain the best and brightest faculty, students, researchers and staff.