The University of Houston has completed construction of Health 2, its second health and biomedical sciences building.
The nine-story, 300,000-square-foot facility provides a new home for the university’s College of Pharmacy, the Student Health Center, community clinical and wellness spaces, and two floors of expanded research space.
The building has specialized research and teaching labs, faculty offices, an expanded health sciences library, and a mix of teaching spaces for the University’s College of Pharmacy.
Health 2 is connected to nearby health science buildings, including Health 1, completed in 2013, and the J. Davis Armistead College of Optometry building.
A shared common area, created at the intersection of the three buildings, has group study rooms, library and pharmacy. Linked from the first through fifth floors, the connection between the three buildings unites like-minded programs.
The lower levels of Health 2 include student commons; two tiered, 200-seat classrooms; group study rooms; computer and study carrels; and a multipurpose student lounge and event space. A tree-edged deck at grade cantilevers over a storm water detention pond.
A third-floor balcony adjacent to the student commons provides students with scenic outdoor spaces to congregate and enjoy open-air events. Community clinic spaces and a nutrition demonstration kitchen are provided on the first floor. The second floor is home to the Department of Health and Human Performance.
The fourth and fifth floors include labs, research facilities and a testing suite where pharmacy students practice simulated hospital interactions.
The sixth floor houses the mechanical equipment for the laboratory space on the lower floors, as well as the research and wet laboratory spaces on the seventh, eighth and ninth floors.
The building’s facade, which features a limestone base, fritted glass curtainwall, and pre-cast concrete wall panels, works independently and synergistically with Health 1.
The architect is Shepley Bulfinch, and the construction manager is Tellepsen Builders.
