ENR’s editors have selected Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis as ENR Midwest’s Owner of the Year. 

Owners of the Year are chosen for their innovation and creativity throughout the region as well as their contributions to their community. Previous Midwest owners of the year have included Invenergy, the Chicago Dept. of Aviation and the University of Notre Dame. 

The Washington University School of Medicine has undertaken several large projects over the past five years that show a commitment to sustainability, support state-of-the-art research and patient care, and make a positive impact on the broader community. 

The school’s $616 million neuroscience research building is slated for completion this summer. It packs an 11-story, 619,000-sq-ft building and parking garage into a relatively small space of 4 acres. The research facility will bring together 96 research teams and nearly 800 employees from various fields who will study the body’s nervous system and illnesses such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. In addition, space in the building can be built out in the future for another 40 research teams.

Another project being built on the campus is a nine-story outpatient center for cancer care. The facility will provide a central home for nearly all aspects of advanced cancer care for outpatients, improving the experience and comfort for patients and their families. The total project budget is just under $283 million. 

The 657,250-sq-ft building will emphasize multi-disciplinary care and enhanced connections between research and clinical care. 

Washington University is also building a six-floor expansion on the top of the Steven & Susan BJC Institute of Health building. The project is estimated to cost $165 million and will feature 160,000-sq-ft of lab space, including a 7,900-sq-ft biosafety level 3 or high containment laboratory to support research on infectious diseases such as SARS-CoV-2 and tuberculosis. Completion is slated for 2024. 

We’ll have more information about Washington University School of Medicine in the March issue of ENR Midwest. Stay tuned!