Honorable Mention: American Architecture Awards 2024
University of California, Riverside, School of Medicine Education Building II  | Riverside, California | 2023

Architects: CO Architects
Lead Architect: James Simeo
Landscape Architect: Spurlock Landscape Architects
General Contractor: Hensel Phelps Construction
Client: University of California, Riverside
Photographers: Bill Timmerman Photography

The School of Medicine Education Building II (EDII) fulfills UCR’s mission to train a diverse workforce of physicians to support the medically underserved Riverside County region of Southern California. The building creates a new home for the medical school by incorporating a wide range of team-based student learning, social spaces, and departmental offices for faculty and staff into one 90,000 GSF, five-story structure.
Strategically located and highly visible on campus, the EDII amplifies the SoM’s identity as a forward-thinking medical school and showcases the power and promise of a medical degree to undergraduates and community members alike. To maximize EDII’s lifespan, the design is flexible and adaptable to respond to growth as needs and pedagogy change. The building is organized with all the highest activity and student-centric learning spaces on the first three and most readily accessible floors, with administration and shared functions located on the upper two floors.

Throughout the building, the design team identified opportunities to enhance the program with high-profile spaces such as an interactive tiered classroom that features an abundance of daylight, access to state-of-the-art technology and informal study seating for breakout sessions. Each level of the EDII capitalizes on the mild Southern California climate by providing outdoor environments that offer views and opportunities for collaboration, socialization or reflection. An expansive plaza on the ground level connects and organizes the surrounding buildings, creating a new SoM Plaza for a wide variety of School of Medicine and campus events.

The design team and client shared the vision of crafting a building that supports its occupants and creates an environment to empower students throughout their academic experience and into their careers. The intense pressures of a medical school’s academic program are now supported by state-of-the-art classrooms, 15 case-based group learning spaces, 19 study rooms, and additional study and amenity spaces that work cohesively to integrate and support student engagement throughout the day and into the night.

The EDII also collocates most of the medical school’s staff, administrators and faculty in the same building for the first time, creating greater efficiencies and moments for collaboration. The EDII was designed with long-term sustainability in mind to ensure it will remain fully functional for generations to come while minimizing its carbon footprint. Located in a drought-prone region, the building defends and restores the natural vegetative conditions of the site. The EDII’s use of transparency and shading optimizes passive elements of light, prevailing breezes and solar heat gain.

The interiors and exteriors utilize durable, easy to maintain and sustainable building materials, as well as healthy, low/no-VOC materials that promote healthy interior air quality and performance. A 200-kilowatt solar array on the roof contributes to its energy efficiency. The EDII will achieve LEED Platinum through its multiplicity of sustainability strategies in all building systems.