The University of Tennessee has broken ground on its new $350 million College of Medicine Interdisciplinary Building in Memphis, the school announced Monday. General contractor Flintco is leading construction alongside design firm HOK and architect brg3s.
The 300,000-square-foot building, which will be located on the university’s Memphis campus, will serve as the first dedicated home of the college of medicine and help train future physicians, per the announcement.
Once complete, the structure will offer flexible classrooms and advanced simulation spaces, while tech-enabled spaces will help educators and other students connect to the school from across the state, per the announcement.
The building is primarily funded via a $311 million appropriation from the state legislature, which represents the general assembly’s largest ever capital investment in a higher education institution in Tennessee history, per the news release. That funding was approved in April.
For Tennessee, this construction comes as the state grapples with a shortage of physicians. There are about 18,800 physicians practicing statewide, which is approximately 13% below the national average per capita, according to a January study from the Tennessee Hospital Association.
“If we want to make a difference in the health of our state, it has to come through here,” said Randy Boyd, president of the University of Tennessee System, in the announcement. “This is why this is so important.”
The building is expected to be substantially completed in 2029, with full occupancy by 2030, per the announcement.
Other higher education builds across the country have also made news recently. Skanska, for example, signed a contract with the University of Mary Washington to build a new theater and renovate fine arts buildings in Fredericksburg, Virginia. The contract is worth $163 million.
