Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine

Fort Smith, Arkansas

Firm

Risley Architects

Client

Arkansas Colleges of Health Education

Area

102,000 sq.ft.

Total Cost

$21,500,000

Completion Date

06/2016

Design team:
Tim A. Risley, SR., AIA (Principal-in-Charge); Larry Hall, AIA (Project Architect); Pat Mickle, PE – Mickle Wagner Coleman, Inc. (Civil); Jason Myers, PE – Myers-Beatty Engineering, PLLC. (Structural); Rob May, P.E. – HSA Engineering Consultants (Mechanical); Charles Raef, P.E. – HSA Engineering Consultants (Electrical); Sarah Howe, AIA (Interiors); Charles Penix, AIA – Cromwell Firm (Programming); Brian Gerdwagen, P.E. _ Cromwell Firm (Fire Protection); Joe Mullins, P.E., LEED AP – Cromwell Firm (Commissioning)

The Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine (ARCOM) is the first of a planned, four-college quadrangle to serve as the nucleus of a 228-acre campus of medical research offices, clinics and support facilities at Chaffee Crossing on the east side of Fort Smith. As the state’s first private medical school, ARCOM has accepted its first class for 2017 and will achieve its 600-student capacity in 2021. The exterior imagery reflects the college’s desire for historical elegance.
The three-story steel and masonry structure provides instructional classrooms and dual 200-seat lecture halls (one of which is “hardened” as a storm shelter). The halls feature double-row table tiers to support the Team-Based Learning curriculum. The Anatomy Suite serves 80 students (each position boasts interactive video and screens) with separate prep, cold storage and an adjoining modeling lab. The Simulation Suite provides eight labs and the clinical training area (the Standardized Patient Center), provides 10 instructional exam rooms.
Also provided is a 20-room study suite for groups ranging from eight to 20 students as well as a library, a research lab, staff offices and administration. The spatial organization is driven by the school’s instructional needs and proximity relationships, but always from the student’s perspective. The interior spaces are bright and up-beat, encouraging visual contact with the exterior environment.
The backbone of the plan is a clerestory, two-story atrium, with full-depth, front-to-rear circulation providing daylighted space for student and staff interaction, café, gaming or just relaxation.