The Center for Sleep, Circadian and Neuroscience Research, which celebrated its reopening May 15 in newly designed space in the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson with a ribbon-cutting and open house, has been recognized by the commercial construction trade journal Engineering News Record, also known as ENR, with an Award of Merit in the Small Project category for 2023 Best Projects in the Southwest.
The ENR Southwest region covers Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico.
This is one of four honors for the University of Arizona, which was recognized as the 2023 Owner of the Year. The $85 million UArizona Applied Research Building, with the design-build team McCarthy Building Cos. Inc. and SmithGroup, also won Best Project in the Higher Education/Research category. And a $42 million UArizona Chemistry Building renovations and additions project, submitted by Sundt Construction Inc., won Best Project for Renovation/Restoration. Both those projects were completed in April.
Sairam Parthasarathy, MD, sleep research center director, professor and chief of the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine in the college’s Department of Medicine, said, “This is a regional U.S. award and we are in good company,” in reference to the UArizona’s other ENR awards.
The new space for the sleep research center, previously in a rented suite since 2016 on Speedway Boulevard adjacent to the Trident Grill, was designed and built with a $5 million construction grant from the National Institutes of Health Office of the Director won by Michael D. Dake, MD, senior vice president for the University of Arizona Health Sciences.
“Our contractor Kitchell submitted this for consideration. Kudos to this team for contributing to the scientific design,” Dr. Parthasarathy said.
He indicated that Ralph Banks, UArizona executive director for engineering, design and construction, and Tom Gerbo, founding principal architect of Sears Gerbo Architecture, as well as the center’s collaborating investigators and staff from four different colleges and multiple departments deserved additional praise in making the state-of-the-art center a reality.
At the open house, Stuart Quan, MD, UArizona Professor Emeritus, prior PACCS division chief and the Gerald E. McGinnis Professor Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School, said the newly redesigned and expanded facility – now encompassing nearly 13,000 square feet – is among the most advanced in the nation, if not globally, for sleep studies. See a video from the open house ribbon-cutting below.
NOTE: A version of this story posted to the Honors + Awards section of the Health Sciences Connect website for the University of Arizona Health Sciences on Monday, Nov. 13, 2023.
ENR Southwest awards event in Phoenix in October
All three UArizona commercial construction projects honored will be featured in the Oct. 30 issue of ENR Southwest and then celebrated during the Best Projects Awards luncheon
Tuesday, Oct. 31, 11 a.m.-1:45 p.m., at the Renaissance Phoenix Downtown Hotel in Phoenix. Each project will be highlighted with a video and pictures, plus a project description in ENR Southwest’s Best Projects issue. Register for the luncheon here.
An ENR Best Projects Award is considered one of commercial construction’s most prestigious and coveted honors. It’s an opportunity to celebrate the teams who created the best projects of the year as selected by juries of experienced and respected industry professionals. Twenty categories are awarded and include various project types covering areas in safety, buildings, infrastructure and green projects.
To see all winners, check this 2023 ENR Southwest Region's Winning Projects list announced Aug. 14.
ALSO SEE:
“Photo Gallery: New Sleep Center Makes Its Debut with Ribbon-Cutting, Tours” | Posted May 19, 2023
“Sky’s the Limit for Research at New Sleep Facility” | Posted May 15, 2023
“Center for Sleep and Circadian Sciences Construction Underway” | Posted Aug. 11, 2022
“UArizona Invention May Help COVID-19 Patients Breathe Easier” | May 14, 2020
“Dr. Parthasarathy Podcast Touts CPAP Devices to Cut Readmissions for Heart Failure Patients” | Posted June 21, 2019
“New Website for UA Sleep Center a Great Place to Catch Some Zzzzs” | Posted Dec. 12, 2018
“Pulmonary Chief Dr. Parthasarathy to Help NIH Prioritize Research on Science of Sleep” | Posted Nov. 30, 2018