Developments on the Washington University Medical Campus and the adjacent Cortex Innovation Community are positioning St. Louis as a national hub for technology and biomedical research.
Campus development projects are designed to facilitate the best outcomes for patients, learners and scientists. The school’s vision for growth is also guided by Washington University’s sustainability goals.
Explore large-scale projects involving the School of Medicine below. Visit the facilities website to see more construction and renovation projects underway on the medical campus.
Current and planned projects
Ambulatory cancer building
A new ambulatory cancer building at Forest Park Avenue and Taylor Avenue in the Central West end will emphasize multi-disciplinary care and enhanced connections between research and clinical care. Included in the project are street improvements along Forest Park Avenue, Taylor Avenue and the Forest Park/Taylor intersection to improve traffic flow and patient access to the building. The building is expected to open in 2024.
Perkins Eastman
An artist’s rendering shows a potential exterior design of a planned nine-story, 659,000-square-foot facility for Siteman Cancer Center patients on the Washington University Medical Campus. Most outpatient cancer care on the campus will be moved to the new building, which is slated for completion by October 2024. The project will not affect care provided at Siteman’s five satellite locations.
Construction is underway for a new inpatient bed tower on Kingshighway at Barnes-Jewish Plaza. The 16-story tower will replace the shuttered Queeny Tower, which was demolished. Construction began in fourth quarter 2021.
The new inpatient tower is an important component of BJC’s Campus Renewal, a long-term project to transform Washington University Medical Campus (WUMC) through new construction and renovations with an overall focus on improving the patient and family experience.
A six-floor expansion on top of the Steven & Susan Lipstein BJC Institute of Health building, which sits at the center of the Medical Campus, will provide 160,000 square feet of state-of-the-art laboratory space and expand the school’s research mission. Ellen S. Clark Hope Plaza is closed during construction, which is expected to complete in 2024.
The Campus Renewal Project at Washington University Medical Campus is transforming the campus experience, with improvements ranging from the consolidation and expansion of clinical care services to more parking and better traffic flow.
Already complete is phase one, which included new inpatient towers with additional clinical services for women and infants, as well as expansion of clinical care at Siteman Cancer Center and other surgical programs. More details about completed construction are listed below.
New and updated clinical spaces will integrate care, research and education while providing an efficient and supportive environment for physicians, nurses and staff. In addition to expanding clinical services, the project will sculpt a campus environment that amply supports the level of care provided. The entire patient experience, from arrival to departure, will see improvements in comfort and convenience. Aesthetic updates will not only enhance the visitor experience, but also promote healing and reduce stress.
Building a long-term vision
The Campus Renewal Project first focused on the north end of campus, with phase two slated for south campus. Major improvements to public spaces, campus navigation and transportation will be incorporated throughout the project, as will increasing the number of private patient rooms.
Phase two: Focusing on the south end of campus, the second phase of construction includes:
Improved space for programs including heart and vascular, neurology, critical care, transplants and general medicine
Increased critical care capabilities
Development of programs in medical and surgical services
Rendering of a south campus concept, part of phase two of the Campus Renewal Project.
In March 2020, construction on one of the largest neuroscience research buildings in the country began at 4370 Duncan Ave. The Jeffrey T. Fort Neuroscience Research Building was dedicated in January 2024.
Addressing the need for more affordable laboratory space in the Cortex district, a Washington University real-estate arm and Cortex redeveloped the 96,000-square-foot Crescent building at 4340-50 Duncan Avenue. The building now serves the region’s urgent demand for lab space, which has been driven in large part by local biotech startups. The newly rehabbed building opened in summer 2019.
Tenants include BioSTL, which operates BioGenerator Labs, Aclaris Therapeutics, the Pennsylvania biopharmaceutical company that acquired St. Louis startup Confluence Life Sciences in 2017, and Arch Oncology.
The Crescent building’s history, as well as its future, is rooted in experimentation and innovation.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch built the facility in 1930 to accommodate a printing technique called rotogravure. The technique, which allowed papers to mass-print quality photographs, equipped the Post-Dispatch to become one of the nation’s leading papers. The printing plant’s Central West End location was near the city’s geographic and population centers, and the railroad lines running adjacent to the site made it ideal for the distribution of newspapers and delivery of printing supplies.
Renovation of the historic Crescent building in 2018.
Between 1973 and 2006, the building housed several other occupants, including Crescent Parts and Equipment Company. In 2016 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its significance to the development of rotogravure printing and its impact on journalism. According to the National Register’s file, the power of rotogravure photo journalism occasionally made an impact on social change and civic progress.
Central West End MetroLink station platform extension
The platform of the Central West End MetroLink station — the system’s busiest and highest passenger volume station — was extended by 60 feet to better accommodate passenger traffic and pedestrian circulation routes. A future redesign of the Central West End Station, still in its planning stages, will include more amenities for Metro customers.
Student housing: Core Apartment Residences
To enhance the student experience and revitalize historic sites, the original buildings for the Central Institute for the Deaf and Shriners Hospital — St. Louis were renovated into apartment-style housing. Both buildings are on the National Register of Historic Places.
Located at Euclid and Clayton avenues, The Core Apartment Residences houses nearly 200 apartments, additional common space for expanded fitness and recreation opportunities, a music room and community center.
New Cortex MetroLink station and Brickline (Chouteau) Greenway
In July 2018, a new MetroLink station opened in the Cortex District adjacent to the @4240 building. The station’s grand opening also celebrated completion of the first quarter-mile segment of the new Brickline Greenway, previously known as the Chouteau Greenway. When complete, the greenway will connect Forest Park to the Gateway Arch.
Barnes-Jewish Parkview Tower and St. Louis Children’s tower
Completed as part of phase one of the Campus Renewal Project, two new inpatient towers opened on the north end of the medical campus early in 2018.
Built by BJC HealthCare, the towers literally bridge maternity and neonatal care. Barnes-Jewish Parkview Tower offers roomy and modernized facilities for patients of Siteman Cancer Center and the Women & Infants Center. The Children’s tower adds 96 private patient rooms on six floors, addressing the need for more beds for pediatric patients.
Demolition for phase one included the Jewish Hospital School of Nursing and the Kingshighway, Steinberg and Yalem buildings.
Business units begin moving into the Mid Campus Center in December 2016, though some floors remain under construction. The 12-story office building, located on the site of the former Storz building on the Medical Campus, serves as an administrative building for the medical school and Barnes-Jewish and St. Louis Children’s hospitals.
The 12-story office building, at 4570 Children’s Place, will provide about 40,000 square feet of space per floor.
The Mid Campus Center is located at 4590 Children’s Place, just north of the Central West End MetroLink Station. The location provides about 40,000 square feet of space per floor and houses offices for the dean and administrative staff and corporate offices for BJC HealthCare. It also includes a WUSM/BJH joint security center, conference rooms, Follett Bookstore, a FedEx store and a Kaldi’s Café. The building has been submitted for LEED certification.
Demolition of the site’s existing structure began in the summer of 2015. Groups began moving into the Mid Campus Center in December 2016, with relocation continuing through spring 2017 as space is completed.
Christner Inc. designed the building; Clayco Corp. is the construction management firm.
Couch Biomedical Research Building (4515 McKinley)
A new state-of-the-art research building opened on McKinley Avenue in 2015. In October 2017, the building was dedicated as the Debra and George W. Couch III Biomedical Research Building. Through their philanthropy and leadership, Debra and George Couch are longtime champions of Washington University and the research at the School of Medicine. Their endowed fund will support interdisciplinary research within the building and across the university.
The state-of-the-art research facility features highly flexible open laboratories to facilitate collaboration and accommodate new research teams. With six stories and 138,000 square feet of lab space, it will house researchers involved in genetics, genomics and regenerative biology, consolidating most Department of Genetics faculty into a single location closer to important collaborators from other departments.
Located southeast of the East McDonnell Building, the Couch Biomedical Research Building’s green space faces Scott Avenue. Dedicated food truck parking and outdoor seating have made the lawn a popular place for people across the campus to gather.
The energy-efficient research facility is dedicated to interdisciplinary research on some of the most complex problems in human biology.
Boston-based architectural firm Goody Clancy, in association with St. Louis-based Christner Inc., designed the building for LEED Silver certification, which is awarded to structures that reduce waste, conserve energy and water, are healthier and safer for occupants and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The general contractor is Clayco.
Several major construction and renovation projects are adding and updating facilities across the university, including a comprehensive plan that is transforming the east end of the Danforth Campus. See current projects »
Perkins Eastman
