Already a commanding presence high on the east bench of the Salt Lake Valley overlooking the University of Utah Campus, the trademark beige glass block and glass facade of the Huntsman Cancer Institute is growing. Construction of the Primary Children’s and Families’ Cancer Research Center began in July 2014, and the $100-million project is scheduled for completion in spring 2017. The new building will be the fourth addition to the HCI campus, which currently includes laboratories, both inpatient and outpatient hospitals, offices and educational facilities.
“Our mission is to understand cancer from its beginnings, and this new facility will help us fulfill several points of that mission,” says Scott Lloyd, senior director of finance and administration for HCI. “This will almost double our wet lab space. It will allow us to expand our work on clinical trials, and it brings together some staff that are now scattered around at different locations. This phase is really being driven by need. We are essentially out of space.”
As with all HCI buildings, the 230,000-sq-ft, seven-story addition (with one level below grade) was designed by Salt Lake City-based Architectural Nexus.
General contractor Jacobsen Construction, also of Salt Lake City, was awarded the CM/GC contract by the Utah Dept. of Facilities Construction and Management, which oversees the HCI as part of the University of Utah campus.