Tech site rates UA health science building among most beautiful

PHOENIX — A popular tech website has rated the University of Arizona Health Science and Education building in downtown Phoenix among the most beautiful science buildings in the world.

Gizmodo ranked the building alongside ones in Italy, Scotland, Germany and several others from the United States.

“We designed this building to train the next generation of healthcare providers,” said Stuart Flynn, dean of the University of Arizona’s College of Medicine in Phoenix. “And trying to ride the pretty large wave of where healthcare is going…big changes.”

Those changes include a forward-thinking curriculum where nurses, pharmacists, therapists, physician assistants and physicians give care together, which has never been done before. In the center of all of that is the patient, Flynn said.

“We (also) designed it to advantage the utilization of technology in healthcare which is also now a huge element of how a patient receives care,” he said.

The Health and Sciences Education building was inspired by canyon formations throughout the state and used approximately 250,000 pounds of 99.9 percent recycled copper.

That’s the equivalent of 33,075,000 pre-1982 pennies, which have 95 percent copper content.