ASU Health’s HQ Forges New Frontiers in Health Care for Arizona
CO Architects, DFDG Architecture, and McCarthy Building Companies Partner to Design and Build New Hub That Will Spur Breakthroughs
Arizona State University (ASU) recently announced plans for an estimated 200,000-square-foot building that will serve as ASU Health’s new headquarters. Sited on a city-owned vacant lot, the multistory School of Medicine and Advanced Medical Engineering facility, designed by CO Architects in collaboration with DFDG Architecture and being constructed by McCarthy Building Companies, will join the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix and several biotech research companies at the downtown Phoenix Bioscience Core.
“This endeavor is more than a building, and this is much more than a medical school,” remarks ASU President Michael Crow. “This will be the headquarters of ASU Health, a new hub of innovation, teaching, and learning to enhance health outcomes for the people of Arizona.”
CO Architects has been active in Phoenix’s Bioscience Core for almost two decades, having designed two of the precinct’s early buildings for University of Arizona’s health-sciences and biomedical research programs. “We’re leveraging our vast experience in Arizona, and in Phoenix specifically, for the new ASU Health facility,” says Jenna Knudsen, FAIA, Managing Principal of CO Architects.
“We’ve been challenged to design a facility for emerging generations of physicians and health professionals who will embrace the latest technologies and research in their practices,” adds Jonathan Kanda, FAIA, Principal for Medical Education at CO Architects.
DFDG President Darrin Orndorff, AIA, says, “Our architecture firms recently collaborated on the ASU Health Futures Building and the adjacent Mayo Clinic Integrated Education & Research Building to integrate medical research and educational training in North Phoenix. That momentum will carry over to this project, the latest addition to greater Phoenix’s health-sciences construction boom.”
Following recent trends in Phoenix and across the country, the new ASU Health School of Medicine and Advanced Medical Engineering building will have a clinical partner. In addition to housing ASU’s first-ever Phoenix medical school offering MD degrees and hosting select existing programs from the Health Solutions and Nursing schools, the building will include space for ASU’s clinical affiliate, HonorHealth.
The new facility will also accommodate two new programs, expanding ASU Health’s multi-discipline curricula. The School of Medicine and Advanced Medical Engineering will teach future physicians how to improve patient care by blending medicine, engineering, technology, and humanities. ASU Health’s new School of Technology for Public Health will focus on the integration of digital technology and data-driven decisions, aiming to improve local public health.
Facility features are projected to include virtual anatomy and clinical-skills laboratories, exam rooms, classrooms, study spaces, administrative offices, and a simulation center with mock operating and emergency rooms. Further, the new ASU Health headquarters will offer community-facing programs so that members of the public can interface with technology-enabled information on health-related issues such as immunizations.
“ASU’s forward-thinking approach to preparing future medical and health service professionals and advancing community health education is plainly demonstrated by this progressive project,” stated Carlos Diaz, vice president of operations at McCarthy Building Companies. “We are eager to bring together our national expertise in simulation lab construction and our local team’s demonstrated competence on complex worksites to collaborate with these exceptional design partners and support ASU’s vision.”
The ASU Health School of Medicine and Advanced Medical Engineering building is designed to help address workforce shortages while improving public health outcomes in Phoenix and beyond. According to the mayor’s office, the new facility is projected to generate approximately 200,000 new jobs and $19 billion in statewide economic impact during the next decade. Preliminary sitework is set to begin this fall, with construction starting in early 2026. ASU Health will begin accepting student applications later this year and plans to commence classes in the new building in Fall 2028.
In addition to design firms CO Architects and DFDG Architecture and the project’s general contractor McCarthy Building Companies, the project team includes Meyer Borgman Johnson (structural engineering), Spectrum Engineers (MEP engineering), Dibble Engineers (civil engineering), TrueForm Landscape Architecture Studio (landscape architecture), Bowman Fire & Life Safety (safety consultant), WSP USA Buildings (sustainability consultant), and NV5 (AV/IT/security consultant).
Firms:
CO Architects is nationally recognized for architectural planning, programming, and design in the higher education, science and technology, healthcare, and civic and cultural sectors, and works with leading institutions from coast to coast. CO Architects’ specialized expertise includes transformative schools of medicine and health professions, advanced research and teaching laboratories, and innovative clinical facilities on higher education, health care, and urban campuses. The firm has been nationally and internationally recognized with more than 230 awards for innovative design and project delivery, including the AIA California’s Architecture Firm of the Year Award.
DFDG Architecture is an Arizona-based firm with more than 55 years of experience designing innovative and impactful spaces. The firm specializes in projects across higher education, science and technology, aviation, corporate, public safety, and municipal sectors, working with leading institutions, such as Arizona State University, the University of Arizona, Northern Arizona University, Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, Mayo Clinic, and the Barrow Neurological Institute. From academic buildings to healthcare and research facilities, DFDG aims to enhance communities and improve lives.
McCarthy Building Companies, Inc., is the oldest privately held national construction company in the country—with more than 160 years spent collaborating with partners to solve complex building challenges on behalf of its clients. With an unrelenting focus on safety and a comprehensive quality program that spans all phases of every project, McCarthy utilizes industry-leading design phase and construction techniques combined with value-add technology to maximize outcomes. Repeatedly honored as a Best Place to Work and Healthiest Employer, McCarthy is ranked the 15th largest domestic builder (Engineering News-Record, May 2025). With approximately 8,000 salaried employees and craft professionals, the firm has offices in St. Louis; Atlanta; Collinsville, Ill.; Kansas City, Kan.; Omaha, Neb.; Phoenix and Chandler, Ariz; Las Vegas; Denver; Austin, Channelview, Dallas, and Houston, Texas; and San Diego, Newport Beach, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose and Sacramento, Calif. McCarthy is 100% employee owned. More information about the company is available online at www.mccarthy.com or by following the company on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
