The School of Osteopathic Medicine at Campbell University, North Carolina’s first new medical school in 35 years, is designed to offer flexible and collaborative spaces that integrate technology to foster a dynamic learning experience.

Designed by Little and completed in August 2013, the 96,500-square-foot facility is the first of several buildings that will create Campbell’s new medical learning community. The university’s master plan calls for the completion of buildings for a school of nursing, public health, physical therapy, and research in the near future, to serve a wide array of future healthcare professionals.  Designers addressed this challenge by incorporating outdoor seating, greenscape, and courtyard areas that will become interwoven over time as other medical education buildings are completed.

Located on the second floor of the School of Osteopathic Medicine are six simulation lab rooms that mimic an emergency room, an operating room, an intensive care unit, a labor and delivery room, and debriefing rooms. There’s also a virtual lab where students gain experience with surgical simulations and are exposed to equipment that teaches about colonoscopies, esophagogastroduodenoscopies, and bronchoscopies. The building’s top level features a 5,500-square-foot anatomy lab and fresh tissues lab.

Transparency is symbolic of the connectivity that exists between medical education and the community that lies outside of the building walls. Natural light reaches every part of the building, from public spaces to the typically dark anatomy and simulation laboratories. 

In addition, the building draws upon many successful design components seen in the heart of Campbell’s main campus, yet possesses its own unique identity. In keeping with basic principles of osteopathic medical practice, the campus uses many sustainable design concepts, including north-south solar orientation for daylighting; bioswales; long-lasting, easily maintainable materials; and a high-performance energy system yielding long-term environmental benefits.