DFDG Architects Archives - سԹ /tag/dfdg-architects/ Design - Construction - Operations Wed, 19 Nov 2025 20:06:11 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 /wp-content/uploads/2026/01/cropped-SCN_favicon-32x32.png DFDG Architects Archives - سԹ /tag/dfdg-architects/ 32 32 Arizona State University Plan New School of Medicine and Advanced Medical Engineering /2025/11/19/arizona-state-university-plan-new-school-of-medicine-and-advanced-medical-engineering/ /2025/11/19/arizona-state-university-plan-new-school-of-medicine-and-advanced-medical-engineering/#respond Wed, 19 Nov 2025 20:06:11 +0000 /?p=54387 Arizona State University (ASU) recently announced plans for an estimated 200,000-square-foot building in Phoenix that will serve as ASU Health’s new headquarters.

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The multistory School of Medicine and Advanced Medical Engineering facility, designed by CO Architects in collaboration with DFDG Architecture and being constructed by McCarthy Building Companies, will join the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix and several biotech research companies at the downtown Phoenix Bioscience Core. | Photo Credit (all): CO Architects

By Lindsey Coulter

In addition to housing ASU’s first-ever Phoenix medical school offering MD degrees and hosting select existing programs from the Health Solutions and Nursing schools, the building will include space for ASU’s clinical affiliate, HonorHealth.
In addition to housing ASU’s first-ever Phoenix medical school offering MD degrees and hosting select existing programs from the Health Solutions and Nursing schools, the building will include space for ASU’s clinical affiliate, HonorHealth.

PHOENIX — Arizona State University (ASU) recently announced plans for an estimated 200,000-square-foot building in Phoenix that will serve as ASU Health’s new headquarters. The multistory School of Medicine and Advanced Medical Engineering facility, designed by CO Architects in collaboration with DFDG Architecture and being constructed by McCarthy Building Companies, will join the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix and several biotech research companies at the downtown Phoenix Bioscience Core.

“This endeavor is more than a building, and this is much more than a medical school,” said ASU President Michael Crow, in a statement. “This will be the headquarters of ASU Health, a new hub of innovation, teaching and learning to enhance health outcomes for the people of Arizona.”

The project is one of several within the city’s Bioscience Coredesigned by CO Architects. The firm is responsible for two of the precinct’s early buildings for University of Arizona’s health sciences and biomedical research programs. “We’re leveraging our vast experience in Arizona, and in Phoenix specifically, for the new ASU Health facility,” said Jenna Knudsen, FAIA, Managing Principal of CO Architects, in a statement.

Facility features are projected to include virtual anatomy and clinical-skills laboratories, exam rooms, classrooms, study spaces, administrative offices, and a simulation center with mock operating and emergency rooms.
Facility features are projected to include virtual anatomy and clinical-skills laboratories, exam rooms, classrooms, study spaces, administrative offices, and a simulation center with mock operating and emergency rooms.

DFDG Architecture also recently collaborated on the ASU Health Futures Building and the adjacent Mayo Clinic Integrated Education & Research Building to integrate medical research and educational training in North Phoenix. “That momentum will carry over to this project, the latest addition to greater Phoenix’s health-sciences construction boom,” said DFDG President Darrin Orndorff, AIA, in a statement.

In addition to housing ASU’s first-ever Phoenix medical school offering MD degrees and hosting select existing programs from the Health Solutions and Nursing schools, the building will include space for ASU’s clinical affiliate,. The new facility will also accommodate two new programs, expanding ASU Health’s multi-discipline curricula. The School of Medicine and Advanced Medical Engineering will teach future physicians how to improve patient care by blending medicine, engineering, technology and humanities. ASU Health’s new School of Technology for Public Health will focus on the integration of digital technology and data-driven decisions, aiming to improve local public health.

Facility features are projected to include virtual anatomy and clinical-skills laboratories, exam rooms, classrooms, study spaces, administrative offices, and a simulation center with mock operating and emergency rooms. Further, the new ASU Health headquarters will offer community-facing programs so that members of the public can interface with technology-enabled information on health-related issues such as immunizations.

“ASU’s forward-thinking approach to preparing future medical and health service professionals and advancing community health education is plainly demonstrated by this progressive project,” said Carlos Diaz, Vice President of Operations at McCarthy Building Companies, in a statement. “We are eager to bring together our national expertise in simulation lab construction and our local team’s demonstrated competence on complex worksites to collaborate with these exceptional design partners and support ASU’s vision.”

The ASU Health School of Medicine and Advanced Medical Engineering building is designed to help address workforce shortages while improving public health outcomes in Phoenix and beyond. Preliminary sitework is set to begin this fall, with construction starting in early 2026. ASU Health will begin accepting student applications later this year and plans to commence classes in the new building in fall 2028.

The project team also includes Meyer Borgman Johnson (structural engineering), Spectrum Engineers (MEP engineering), Dibble Engineers (civil engineering), TrueForm Landscape Architecture Studio (landscape architecture), Bowman Fire & Life Safety (safety consultant), WSP USA Buildings (sustainability consultant) and NV5 (AV/IT/security consultant).

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ASU’s University Gateway Building Blends Retail, Education and Sustainability /2025/01/14/asus-university-gateway-building-blends-retail-education-and-sustainability/ Tue, 14 Jan 2025 19:53:13 +0000 /?p=53329 Construction recently concluded on Arizona State University’s (ASU) University Gateway Building (UGB), a $78 million, five-story mixed-use facility with an architecturally complex facade. The structure unifies retail, education, and art spaces under one sustainably designed roof.

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By Fay Harvey

TEMPE, Ariz. — Construction recently concluded on Arizona State University’s (ASU) University Gateway Building (UGB), a $78 million, five-story mixed-use facility with an architecturally complex facade. The structure unifies retail, education, and art spaces under one sustainably designed roof.

“The University Gateway Building marks a significant milestone for Arizona State University, linking the west side of the Tempe campus with the vibrant energy of Mill Avenue,” said Tim Smith, ASU Facilities Development and Management vice president in a statement. “With its distinctive angular façade, we have a visual showpiece that inspires ideas and innovation.”

The 128,000-square-foot structure was the remaining element to a two-part project completed in tandem by the design-build team of St. Louis, Mo.-based McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. and Phoenix-based DFDG Architects. The first part of the project, a six-story parking structure, was completed last year.

Inside the UGB

Classrooms within the UGB are home to the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts where students study music, music therapy, photography, e-sports, architecture and animation programs. Designed with acoustics in mind, the building’s third floor features an extensive sound isolation system from Phoenix-based TP Acoustics Inc., to manage both internal and external noise. The firm helped develop the ideal settings for instrument practice rooms, group rehearsal spaces, recording studios and a music therapy clinic for the college’s music program.

Flex study areas offer students comfortable spaces to collaborate. Photo Courtesy of McCarthy Building Companies

An e-sport gaming lounge, large computer labs, 3D printing technology and state-of-the-art dark rooms all have homes within the other three academic floors and are neighbored by faculty offices and flex study areas for nearby academic support.

By grouping similar occupants, the projectteam maximized the use of special elements, i.e. sound-proofed areas for various sound needs or dark spaces designed to be adjacent to photography study areas, according to Jonathan Kimble, project manager at McCarthy Building Companies. Kimble spoke to the value of developing a mixed-use space and strategically separating or conjoining amenities.

“Sometimes that separation can be a hard line between floors or slowly transitioning from office space on one end of the building to a photo lab on the other end by mixing in study spaces, classrooms and lounge areas to help soften the transition”

However, the building isn’t all academically focused. To maximize land use for various stakeholder groups, the building offers leasable restaurant and retail spaces on the ground level. A pedestrian walkway along the building’s facade creates an inviting environment for community members and complementing the building’s innovativehigh-performance thermal, air and vapor envelope.

The exposed facades are designed to minimize direct solar gain with various shading strategies. For instance, the western facade features a unitized skin system with a deeply faceted geometric design, providing coverage from sunlight to help reduce energy consumption.

Designing this angular facade brought a variety of challenges beyond the building’s shape alone, such as the street’s building’s bustling, arterial Mill Avenue location and the overall process of creating a showcase design that serves as the gateway to ASU’s campus.

“To overcome these challenges, we worked closely with our design team as well as our trade partner, KT-Fabrication, to create a superior skin system that would not only be a statement piece for ASU but could also be prefabricated and shipped to the site for installation to help mitigate disruption to traffic,” said Kimble. “We built a mockup of the skin panels at KT-Fabrication’s yard where we were able to perform testing and review with ASU to make any necessary adjustments prior to installing the panels on site.”

Parking Solutions

The UGB wraps around the $42 million Mill Avenue parking structure, completed in 2023. The structure, the first phase of the Mill Avenue project by design-build team McCarthy Building Companies Inc. and DFDG Architects, added 1,205 parking spaces to the area.

The parking structure's entrance
The six-story parking structure accommodates underground thermal energy storage for campus cooling, supporting the institution’s sustainability goals. Photo Courtesy of McCarthy Building Companies

ASU’s dedication to sustainability remains evident in the 429,000-square-foot parking structure, which features EV charging stations on the first and third floors. The six-story building has a rooftop photovoltaic array for electrical power generation, while below the structure underground thermal energy storage supports campus cooling. Secure bike parking is offered, with changing rooms and showers also included to support greener commutes.

Commissioning of the two-part project entailed sourcing chilled-water air handlers and pumps, a dedicated outdoor air system, electric water heaters, circulation pumps, hydronic heat exchangers and exhaust fans. Advanced lighting, including control systems for dimming and motion sensing, were also critical to the environmentally sustainable elements of the project. The combined parking structure and University Gateway Building are projected to meet LEED Silver and Parksmart Gold certifications.

Key construction trade partners also included Sun Valley Masonry in Phoenix, and Tempe, Ariz.-based companies Arizona Elevator Solutions and RH Dupper Landscaping.

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