Over the past year or two, some of you may have noticed a mysterious construction project taking place on Crittenden, behind Strong Memorial Hospital. Now, with the exterior construction almost done, it may look a little bit more like a building. More specifically, the new Clinical and Translational Science Building (CTSB) – a facility that will help accelerate scientific discoveries into new ways to understand, treat, prevent, and cure diseases!
According to the University of Rochester CTS Institute website, “The building has an open layout that encourages interaction and collaboration between researchers. It contains meeting rooms, common areas, break rooms, conference rooms and other public and private spaces where researchers can meet both formally and informally. Much of the office space is arranged in an open configuration to promote interaction among the occupants.
The building also incorporates several design features that will increase energy efficiency. For example, the building’s alignment, positioning of windows, and the layout of office space allow natural light to enter the interior of the building and provide passive heating. The Medical Center will seek Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification, which will make CTSB the first LEED-certified building on the University of Rochester campus.”
When the snow melts, the building will also feature a finished bio-detention pond – a beautiful green space area (fill of trees and plants) designed to absorb and filter the runoff rain water from the building and surround parking lot, making it safer to release back into the ground water supply.
To find out more about the construction of CTSB, set to be finished by April of 2011, check out their website!