Education building named best Higher Education Construction Project in 2006

UC Davis School of Medicine students resume classes this year in the new Education Building and F. William Blaisdell, M.D., Medical Library. A facility that California Construction Magazine named the “best higher education project” of 2006 in Northern California. The school was one of 25 projects statewide recognized for the Best of 2006 awards.

“The vision for our new facility was inspired by the underlying need to create a central destination that physically and symbolically serves as the hub of UC Davis Health System educational facilities on the Sacramento campus,” said Claire Pomeroy, vice chancellor for Human Health Sciences at UC Davis and dean of the School of Medicine. “The design of the building is both beautiful and functional, and we are pleased it was selected among the best in the state.”

The $46.2 million, 121,000-square-foot education and library building, located at the corner of 45th and X streets, serves as a distinct gateway to the 140-acre Sacramento campus.

The building creates a place where students, faculty, medical staff and visitors can engage in academic exchange, health-care research and clinical practice. It includes two 150-seat auditoriums, a 60-seat lecture hall, an advanced medical library, a clinical skills area with mock exam rooms, high-tech instructional and professional simulation spaces, and a student commons.

Carrier Johnson, one of California's leading architecture and interior design firms, designed the project. Sundt Corp., an international construction firm, served as the general contractor.

California Construction Magazine selected UC Davis' new building as one of its 2006 Best of California award winners out of a field of more than 100 entries. Professionals from many facets of the construction industry made the selection based on quality and evidence of teamwork.