Photo courtesy of Jacobsen Construction
The eight-story facility is located on the hillside in the heart of the University of Utah Health campus and will replace the old School of Medicine facility that was built in the 1960s.
Jacobsen Construction and the University of Utah recently celebrated its work on the new Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine building — valued at $185 million — with a beam "topping off" ceremony for the new teaching, training and research facility.
Photo courtesy of Jacobsen Construction
Jacobsen Construction, the lead contractor of the project, hoisted the final beam into place on the new building on June 4, alongside Spencer Fox Eccles (the school's namesake), University of Utah President Taylor Randall and other university officials.
The building is scheduled to open in 2026.
"Getting to this point has been the result of a lot of methodical planning and hard work by everyone involved in the project," said Chris Field, vice president and project executive of Jacobsen Construction. "It's a milestone well worth celebrating. A lot of work remains, but we already have a glimpse of the university's brilliant vision taking shape, step by step, and it's inspiring to be a part of it.
"This is really your day," Field told the craftworkers who were there to celebrate. "A day to honor your craftsmanship, your dedication and your hard work … This milestone was the perfect occasion for celebrating the fine work of the SME Steel Contractors team and all of our jobsite partners moving this impactful project forward."
The design partners on this project are Salt Lake City-based VCBO Architecture and Yazdani Studio, a national firm headquartered in Los Angeles.
The new building encompasses 211,457-sq.-ft. and will consist of a high-tech anatomy lab, tailored classrooms, an advanced simulation center, collaborative spaces and conference auditoriums that will serve the 500-plus students in the university's prestigious medical program.
Challenges
"Generally, every utility that feeds the hospital was running through the footprint of this site," Field said in an interview with Engineering News Record. "Crews spent about one year and $40 million relocating those critical utilities to ‘make a fresh site.' That work, along with much of the structural concrete, is now complete. The silhouette of the building is becoming more visible as the steel continues to rise up. It's literally ... touching three buildings."
Executing the project on an active campus is another current challenge for Jacobsen and its trade partners. Continuous noise and vibration monitoring and regular meetings with managers of adjacent buildings help reduce impacts to the critical health care activities. Onsite crews maintain a constant vigilance of redirecting and keeping pedestrians away from the site.
"At the end of the day, we're a guest on the campus," Jacobsen told ENR. "We're tasked to further its mission … which is health care and research."
Photo courtesy of Jacobsen Construction
Jacobsen Construction CEO Gary Ellis (L) and Spencer Fox Eccles celebrate new construction of the School of Medicine at the University of Utah on June 4, 2024.
Eccles is one of Utah's leading philanthropists and a dedicated University of Utah supporter. Funds from a landmark $110 million gift from the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation and the Nora Eccles Treadwell Foundation provide support for medical education programs and cardiovascular research. Eccles is chairman and CEO of the two foundations.
"I have long believed that no state or region can become truly great without a world-class medical center at its nucleus," Eccles said. "When completed, this facility will help ensure the university provides the highest quality medical education for the doctors who serve Utah and the entire Intermountain West."
The eight-story facility is nestled on the hillside in the heart of the University of Utah Health campus and will replace the old School of Medicine facility that was built in the 1960s.
"This innovative new building will be the cornerstone of our University of Utah Health campus, embodying the extraordinary and generous legacy of the Eccles family and their foundations, a legacy that has enriched the University of Utah for over 70 years," said Taylor Randall, president of the University of Utah. "The Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine will propel the U forward, as a world-class integrated academic medical institution. I want to specifically thank Spence Eccles, from the bottom of our hearts, for everything he has done for the U."
Work on the project began with the ground breaking in October 2022 and the installment of the first structural steel started in February 2024.
"This facility will advance innovation in medical education," said Michael Good, CEO of University of Utah Health and senior vice president of Health Sciences. "It will enable us to be a model for the nation in educating medical students who will pursue excellence in patient care and the medical sciences."
University of Utah Health is the only academic medical center in the Mountain West, providing patient care for nearly 10 percent of the geographic area of the continental United States. The construction of the medical education building is expected to drive the evolution in the medical school's history and be used across three primary areas: education, research and clinical care.
"This iconic new building anchoring our University Health campus, reflects the remarkable, generous legacy of the Eccles Family," Randall said. "Their remarkable gift is already enabling our Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine to move further forward as a world-class integrated academic medical institution."
The new School of Medicine facility will use education, training and research to prepare the next generation of health care providers.
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