University of New England

The New
College of Pharmacy Building

Construction of the University of New England’s state-of-the-art College of Pharmacy academic and research facility has begun at UNE’s Westbrook College Campus on Stevens Avenue in Portland. The building is the first facility devoted entirely to Pharmacy academic studies and research in the state of Maine. 

Slideshow on Buiding Progress
(Click on arrows below photo to view images of the construction.)

The building includes a Drug Information Center and three innovative teaching laboratories - The Hannaford Pharmacy Practice Lab, The Sterile Products Lab and The Pharmaceutics Lab - as well a complement of lecture halls and classrooms equipped with the latest technologies.

A Green Building
The new building was designed by Port City Architecture and is being built by Allied/Cook Construction, both of Portland, Maine and will provide 12,000 square feet on each of four floors for a total of 48,000 square feet. The building is registered for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification with the U.S. Green Building Council.

The buildings water use will be minimized by highly efficient plumbing systems and appropriate landscaping; the exterior envelope and innovative mechanical systems including chilled beams and heat recovery units will optimize energy performance; construction waste will be recycled, reused, or otherwise diverted from landfills; building materials will have a high recycled content and be locally sourced; and to maintain a healthy indoor environment, building finishes will be low (or no) VOC (volatile organic compound) and contain no urea formaldehyde.

First Floor
A large lecture hall will be located on the first, or ground, floor.  The Hannaford Pharmacy Practice Lab and a contiguous sterile products room with horizontal and vertical laminar flow hoods will be located nearby.   The administrative suite for the Dean and Associate Dean will also be housed on this level.  The remainder of the first floor will be devoted to general circulation, soft seating, and a student kitchen/lounge area.

Second Floor
The second floor will be occupied by two teaching facilities and administrative space.  Offices, conference rooms, and other administrative space for the Departments of Pharmacy Practice and Social & Administrative Sciences will take up a significant portion of this floor.  The Drug Information Center and the Pharmaceutics Teaching Lab will occupy the remainder of the space on this floor.

Third Floor
The third, or top, floor will be completely devoted to the research enterprise providing over 7,000 square feet of research laboratories, procedure rooms, controlled temperature facilities, and hood rooms.  The remainder of the third floor is devoted to offices and other administrative space for the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Classroom and Teaching Lab Specifications

Classrooms
As noted above, the new building will house a 120-seat classroom on the first floor.  This large classroom will complement the existing 125-seat classroom housed in the Parker Pavilion on the Westbrook College Campus.  Existing space on campus will be renovated for use as two medium sized classrooms, each with capacity for 50-60 students.  Smaller classrooms, with capacity for 12-20 students, will be used for group discussions and are located in multiple buildings on the Westbrook College Campus.

Teaching Laboratories

• The Hannaford Pharmacy Practice Lab will be designed and equipped to serve as a model pharmacy typically found in a community practice setting.  This laboratory will be utilized to provide the students with an introduction to pharmacy practice; compounding prescription products; and the steps necessary to dispense a prescription and counsel a patient in a controlled setting.
  
  Approximately 1,200 – 1,400 sq. ft. would be devoted to this lab and will provide for multiple computer workstations for patient profiling and inventory control.  An inventory of prescription and non-prescription medications will be maintained in a secure setting.  A number of typical laboratory workbenches will be provided for compounding/preparation of prescriptions. 
• The Sterile Products Lab will be designed and equipped to provide advanced level students with the experience of preparing a variety of sterile parenteral medications including small- and large-volume intravenous solutions.  This lab will be contiguous with the Pharmacy Practice Lab and will include both horizontal and vertical flow laminar hoods and the necessary shelving for storage of medications and solutions.  Approximately 500 sq. ft. will be allocated to this facility.
• The Pharmaceutics Lab will be a traditional “wet” lab, which will introduce pharmacy students to the characteristics of various dosage forms and their formulation and how these factors affect absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion of typical medications. The Pharmaceutics Lab will also serve as the primary location for extemporaneous compounding exercises.  Approximately 1,400 sq. ft. will be devoted to this laboratory.

The Drug Information Center will be housed in 1,000-1,200 sq. ft. and will provide the necessary technology and literature resources including at least 8 computer workstations for students and faculty.  The DIC will serve as a student-training site and provide professional services to area practitioners.