The new, nine-story, 300,000-square-foot building will be on Wheeler Avenue between Spur 5 and Calhoun Road. | Courtesy of UH Media Relations
UH held a groundbreaking ceremony for a new 300,000-square-foot Health and Biomedical Sciences building Monday.
Several leaders, including University president and system chancellor Renu Khator and Lamar Pritchard, Dean of the College of Pharmacy, spoke at the ceremony. David Sparks, a majority owner of the Professional Compounding Centers of America, was also in attendance.
Sparks recently donated $500,000 to the college, leading the sterile products laboratory in the new building to be named after PCCA.
“We truly expect that these curricular and facility improvements will continue to enhance the abilities of our students upon graduation and translate into enhanced pharmaceutical care for the citizens of Texas and beyond,” Pritchard said in a message on the College of Pharmacy’s website.
The new building, known as HBSB2, will be home to the College of Pharmacy, which is currently housed partially in the Texas Medical Center and partially in the Science and Research 2 building. HBSB2 will have nine stories, four of which will be connected to other science and health buildings.
The addition of HBSB2 will continue UH’s plan for a medical district on campus. Other buildings include the first Health and Biomedical Sciences Building, the J. Davis Armistead College of Optometry facility and the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center.
The same architect and firm that completed the first Health and Biomedical Building, Shepley Bulfinch and Bailey Architects of Houston, also designed HBSB2.
According to the latest report, the project budget is $145 million.
HBSB2 will also work to connect UH with the surrounding community, according to the same report. The facility will serve as a health care clinic in collaboration with a federally qualified health center. Access to OB-GYN, family practice and pediatric physicians will all be available through the new facility.
The new building will be a state-of-the-art facility for academics, research and community health.
