One of the country’s fastest growing research institutions, the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School (UMCMS) has further bolstered its national recognition with a new education and research facility now anchoring its campus core. The nine-story high-rise is revolutionizing UMCMS’s operations with 350,000 square feet of space strategically designed for instructing tomorrow’s healthcare leaders and fostering collaboration among more than 70 research teams innovating treatments for serious diseases. The centerpiece of the state-of-the-art building’s LEED Gold design is its greenhouse gas-reducing geothermal well system beneath the campus quad that VHB helped design.
Before joining the project team, VHB—a trusted UMCMS adviser for nearly 20 years—partnered with the University to lead the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) process to plan for this major campus expansion. Continual coordination between VHB and other project team members kept the landmark development on schedule despite drastic pandemic-related supply-chain slowdowns. The project also stayed on budget, due in part to VHB’s ability to work with the City of Worcester to help UMCMS save substantially on sewer connection fees. VHB’s integrated utility, traffic, and transportation teams helped keep the campus up and running and safely connected throughout construction.
