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 Last Concrete Poured for Phase One of IRC
The University of Wisconsin realized another
milestone in one of its premiere research
endeavors this summer when scientists,
physicians and dignitaries watched as the final
bucket of cement was poured onto the roof of
the Interdisciplinary Research Complex (IRC) at
the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine
and Public Health (SMPH).
In celebrating the moment, Robert Golden, MD,
dean of the SMPH, praised the many partners
who have been so important to the project.“We give our deepest
thanks to all those who
have helped convert our vision into a reality,”
he said.
Golden noted the $134 million building will
play a critical role in the school’s historic
transformation into an integrated school of
medicine and pubic health. “Work that takes
place in this building will translate to every
nook and cranny of the state, embodying the
Wisconsin Idea,” he said.
According to George Wilding, MD, director
of the UW Paul P. Carbone Comprehensive
Cancer Center (UWC), the IRC is
deliberately planned to foster interdisciplinary
collaborations, a concept that will attract and
retain promising faculty, and which will spark
innovative ideas and create new research
partnerships.
The IRC is the first building on the UW-Madison
campus specifically designed to foster
interdisciplinary collaborations. And, says Paul
DeLuca, vice dean of the medical school, that
will encourage unique gatherings of scientists
from different disciplines to address urgent
health problems of common concern. Close
proximity to the UWC, UW Hospital and
Clinics, the American Family Children’s Hospital
and the Schools of Pharmacy and Nursing, will
allow new scientific discoveries to move rapidly
from research laboratories to clinical care
settings, he added.
The topping out marked the end of major
construction on phase one of the three-phase
project. The first phase consists of a five-story
east tower atop a three-story base, plus the
base of the center tower. The east tower will
become home to the UWCCC and five floors of
laboratory space will be dedicated to breast,
prostate and pediatric cancer.
Lower levels of the east tower will house an
imaging and radiation science center and an
anatomy teaching facility. Seven additional
laboratory floors to be completed in phase two
and future plans call for a west tower to be
completed in phase three.
Construction on the phase one tower building,
tucked between UW Hospital and Clinics
and the Health Sciences Learning Center, is
scheduled to be completed in 2008.
Sixty miles of pipe and 600 miles of wire have
been installed in the IRC; the building took more
concrete than any other project in state history.
Some of the imaging vaults on the lower level
have walls and ceilings at least eight feet thick,
according to Mark Wells, SMPH assistant dean
for facilities. The sensitive imaging equipment
also required that the structure be vibration
resistant, which meant even more concrete.
Only $23 million in state funds will be used
for the project. The Rennebohm Foundation
has contributed $15 million, General Electric
Medical Systems has given a benchmark
gift and the National Institutes of Health has
awarded $17.6 million to the project so far.
Working closely with the UW Foundation, the
SMPH has raised a total of $97 million.
Even as the topping out occurred, Golden said
much work still lies ahead. “We are committed
to building three towers,” he said. “We must
rededicate ourselves to getting the job done.”
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