Joint Health Sciences Center – Kudos for Camden Collaboration

On Jul 22, 2021

In what has been referred to as an “unprecedented collaboration,” Rowan University, Rutgers-Camden University, and Camden County College combined resources to create the Joint Health Sciences Center (JHSC), a 100,000-square-foot medical research, education and training center in downtown Camden. Their $73-million shared, long-term investment in education and the community supports ongoing development already underway in the city, anticipating that Camden will become New Jersey’s center of advanced medical research and innovation. 

The four-story JHSC building – a project that generated 250 construction jobs – features communal spaces where creative scientific minds from the three institutions can collaborate. The design is based on the Mesh Economy Model, which co-locates faculty and students from various academic disciplines in order to share laboratories, equipment and classrooms. Design features that support this approach include medical simulation labs, a virtual reality lab, open floor plan labs, shared amenities within different labs, and shared pantries, lounges, meeting spaces, and multi-purpose rooms. 

Sustainable design features include energy recovery systems in all of the building’s air handlers, an automated lighting control system complete with dimmers and occupancy sensors, and LED lighting. The laboratory floors are composed of natural, sustainable materials. An enclosed penthouse houses the majority of mechanical equipment, allowing for easier and more efficient equipment maintenance, and a building automation system monitors and controls all aspects of the building’s HVAC system. 

The anticipated influx of professionals, educators, students and 350 employees, plus the education and training that will take place in the JHSC, will both prepare participants for meaningful careers in healthcare and medical research, and lead to job creation and economic activity in Camden. 

The JHSC already has been recognized as New Jersey’s Leading Infrastructure Project by the New Jersey Alliance for Action, as Best Collaborative Effort of the Year by the Non-Profit Development Center, and received the Economic Development Achievement Award by Plan Smart New Jersey. 

ARCHITECTS 

HOK, New York
Joseph F. McKernan Jr. Architect & Associates, LLC
Cherry Hill 

BUILDER 

Torcon Inc., Red Bank 

FINANCE ENTITY 

New Jersey Economic Development Authority
New Jersey Educational Foundation 

NOMINATOR 

Amanda DiCrescenzo,
Director of Marketing 
& Business Development,
Eureka Metal & Glass 
Services, Inc., Philadelphia 

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