New UW-Madison nursing school is just what the doctor ordered

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For decades, the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s School of Nursing has lacked an independent identity on campus.

Now, a new building is ensuring the school is making a name for itself.

UW-Madison’s Signe Skott Cooper Hall — a $53 million, five-story structure — opened in the fall of 2014. Thirty years in the making, the building drew on a combination of private donations and state money.

The completed structure contains one of the largest spaces in the country set aside for instruction in nursing and inter-professional health. During construction, Cooper Hall received $6 million in state-of-the-art audio-visual medical equipment.

At the heart of the project is the 7,400-square-foot Center for Technology-Enhanced Nursing, which uses new technology to help with learning and provide clinical simulations.

“The focus is not so much technology for its own sake,” said Jerzy Jura, director of academic technology, “but rather tools that make teamwork and collaboration easier.”

Some of the space was equipped with LearningSpace, a video and audio recording system that allows simulations to be captured from various camera angles. Data and vital signs can also be simultaneously tracked using high-tech manikins.

The project is in keeping with the UW System’s commitment to green design. The building was certified LEED Silver in October, making it the 10th on the university’s campus to hold that designation. More than 85 percent of the waste resulting from the project was diverted from landfills. Moreover, 29 percent of the money for the building’s materials was spent on things that had been recycled, and more than 30 percent of the total materials used on the project were either extracted, harvested, recovered or manufactured within 500 miles of the building’s site.

Among the examples of the latter were stone veneer from Mankato, Minn., and decorative glass from Chicago. The building, meanwhile, has a system that will help reduce stormwater runoff by 9 percent over a two-year period. The quality of runoff water will also be improved through the use of retention ponds and plants, as well as an understanding of the area’s drainage patterns.

The use of green space was even made part of the architecture. A 7,350-square-foot, plant-covered roof was designed to provide a space not only for students to gather but also to collect rainwater. Helping to keep the project’s interior clean and healthy are low-emission paints, sealants, adhesives, carpets and furnishings. Next to the new building is a “quad” featuring an open atrium, an outdoor patio and a 300-seat auditorium.

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