From the Ground Up

As night falls over downtown Buffalo, halogen lights shine on the construction site for the future UB medical school on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus. Foundations are being set for the 628,000-square-foot building, which is currently the largest medical education facility under construction in the U.S. When complete, it will provide the equivalent of 11 football fields of floor space, while its location will put more than 2,000 students, faculty and staff within walking distance of some of Buffalo’s top landmarks, including the Anchor Bar and Shea’s Performing Arts Center.

A.  The Roosevelt Apartments are approximately half the height of the future medical school.

B.  The existing Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA) station will be integrated into the new medical school building.

C.  The Conventus Medical Office Building will include UBMD and Kaleida Health as anchor tenants.

D.  A future passageway will link Allen Street to the medical campus.

E.  Large support beams, or “rakers,” prevent the NFTA Metro subway tunnel from moving.

F.  “Soldier piles”—stacks of many pieces of lumber—form the retaining walls.