Nick merrick, hedrich blessing (above, below and insert)


Project category: New construction (completed September 2006)

Chief administrator: Richard Jones, AIA, Assistant Vice-President for Design and Construction, (305) 243-5802

Firm: Perkins+Will, (404) 873-2300

Design team: Manuel Cadrecha, Managing and Design Principal; Jim Bynum, Planning Principal; George Valcarcel, Project Manager; Marlene Liriano, Interior Designer

Photography: Nick Merrick, Hedrich Blessing; Mark Surloff, Mark Surloff Photography

Total building area (sq. ft.): 396,000

Construction cost/sq. ft.: Not Released

Total construction cost (excluding land): Not Released

The Clinical Research Building at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine is a high-rise complex comprised of three components: 336,000 square feet of research and dry-lab spaces, a parking garage for 1,450 vehicles, and a 60,000-sq.-ft. wellness center located above the garage structure.

Mark surloff, mark surloff photography
After analyzing the most efficient core and plan layouts, Perkins+Will arrived at a solution placing the core to the west of the north-south axis. This allowed clear access to the parking structure, as well as shielding the structure from unfavorable sun orientation. The parking structure is L-shaped, maximizing the utilization of the site and keeping the building to 10½ stories.
Nick merrick, hedrich blessing

A floating grand staircase and two-story atrium accentuate the main lobby. The overall design highlights wellness and healing through the subtle use of color and materials and is further emphasized by a fiber-optic–illuminated water feature below the cantilevered staircase. A juice bar on the north side of the main entrance overlooks the medical campus and provides an informal meeting place, serving members and tenants from the main building.

All state-of-the-art security and lighting controls for the wellness center are housed in the reception desk, which is finished in river rock, terrazzo, and figured anigre. The membership sales area is behind this desk, along with spa services and massage therapy rooms. The vast, two-story, open fitness areas are located toward the south elevation overlooking downtown Miami.