Under the Arizona sun, DPR, along with leaders from Arizona State University (ASU), Mayo Clinic and the community came together with shovels to break ground on ASU’s new Health Futures Center (HFC). The greenfield project is positioned to be an anchor for cutting-edge health science work that will in turn change how the healthcare industry is perceived in Phoenix.

With a 20-year relationship with ASU, DPR was chosen to create yet another project and a new set of experiences with the ASU team. HFC will be a 150,000-sq.-ft., three-story ground up medical learning facility, adjacent to Mayo Clinic’s campus in North Phoenix.

The new facility will provide the surrounding communities with new technologies that will accelerate med-tech innovation. The center will be an integrated point between Mayo Clinic and ASU Alliance for Health Care with the goal of transforming medical education and healthcare in the U.S.

"It's a great opportunity to be working side by side with two industry leaders to deliver a world-class research facility," said DPR's Casey Helburg, who is serving as project manager. "The new center will transform the medical education field, advance patient care and improve the lives of future generations. It's exciting for not only me personally, but all of us at DPR."

Determined to deliver, DPR’s Cassie Robertson, preconstruction, and Shashi Sriram, estimator, collaborated with the design team from CO Architects and DFDG Architecture. The team leveraged the vast estimating experience and precision to identify where the budget is being allocated at any given stage of design.

The late April 2019 groundbreaking event brought together Mayor of Phoenix Kate Gallego, President and CEO of Mayo Clinic Gianrico Farrugia, and ASU President Michael Crow. They all shared their stories to paint a picture of what the HFC building will stand for: To provide a collaborative environment for the future of Arizona’s healthcare industry.

For DPR, the event inaugurated not only the first step in the physical build out of the building, but also a moment to reminisce on the months of preconstruction planning and collaboration to produce a project grounded in a shared vision to make a difference. Construction is expected to be complete in October 2020.