Another piece of the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus began to take shape Wednesday, as architects showcased their ideas for a new medical school at the corner of Main and High streets at the edge of downtown.

The University at Buffalo last month invited four teams to compete for the chance to design the new $375 million School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, and Wednesday the teams showed UB what they had to offer.

It was challenging, said David Rolland, project director for Rafael Vinoly Architects, which partnered with FoitAlbert Associates. But this is, as architects, what we love. We love the challenge.

UB is scheduled to break ground on the project in September 2013.

Each of the design teams, big-name firms with offices around the world, brought a different vision to the new medical school.

Pelli Clarke Pelli Associates and Cannon Design partnered to create a sleek building with lots of glass and a curved facade at the corner of Main and High.

Rafael Vinoly designed a 10-story, glass structure that included winter gardens and a circular staircase that winds its way throughout the inside of the building.

Grimshaw Architects and Davis Brody Bond designed a building shaped like two bars one a six-story, one nine-story with cascading glass connecting the two to draw in the natural light.

Helmuth, Obata & Kassabaum came up with a masonry and glass building that would incorporate retail on the ground floor to draw in the public along Main Street.

We see it as an opportunity to create activity on the street, said Ken Drucker, design partner with HOK.

Excerpt from:
Medical school designs unveiled