Arizona State University
145,200 SF
CMAR
Prime Architect in assoc. with CO Architects
2020
$72M
Architect of Record
Project Manager
Interior Design
The Health Futures Center (HFC) is a three-story, ground-up medical learning facility built for Arizona State University in partnership with the Mayo Clinic. This collaborative center provides a new and innovative model for the future of healthcare professionals where students are taught to treat patients through a whole health model: mind, body, and spirit.
The 150,000-square-foot facility is a unique blend of wet and dry research laboratories, simulation, workplace, and meeting spaces. The design maximizes interdepartmental shared space encouraging a collaborative and creative environment. The facility features specific clinical skills labs with simulation exam and operating rooms. It includes space for a future MRI build-out, dry and wet labs, physical therapy dry labs, and a teaching kitchen for nutritional programs. A home care lab provides a mock apartment where students can learn how to assist patients in their own homes. The new 300-seat conference center serves as a pathway connecting the HFC to the Mayo Clinic campus.
Programs from several ASU schools and colleges will benefit from the proximity of this facility to the Mayo Clinic. ASU programs include the College of Health Solutions, College of Nursing and Health Innovation, Fulton Schools of Engineering, and Entrepreneurship and Innovation.
This project was designed in association with CO Architects.
“The goal of the Alliance is to accelerate research discoveries, transform medical education, and improve patient care through practice advances. This building represents both progress in our work together and a commitment to future innovation.” Gianrico Farrugia, M.D., President & CEO Mayo Clinic
The three-story medical learning facilitywas built for Arizona State University and is located adjacent to the Mayo Clinic Phoenix campus. Completed in 2020, it was designed to support a new and innovative model for healthcare education, one where students are taught to treat patients through a whole health approach that addresses mind, body, and spirit.
ASU Health Futures Center strengthens DFDG Architecture’s healthcare and higher education portfolio in Phoenix, AZ. The facility is a unique blend of wet and dry research laboratories, clinical simulation spaces, workplace areas, and meeting rooms. Specific features include clinical skills labs with simulation exam and operating rooms, a future MRI build-out space, physical therapy dry labs, a teaching kitchen for nutritional programs, and a home care lab designed as a mock apartment for patient-at-home training. A 300-seat conference center connects the facility to the broader campus.
DFDG Architecture used project-specific planning strategies to support ASU Health Futures Center’s operations, users, and long-term performance. The HFC was built around the belief that the future of healthcare requires professionals who can treat the whole person, not just a condition. By bringing together disciplines that are typically siloed , clinical medicine, research, nutrition, physical therapy, and more , in a shared, interdepartmental facility, the design actively encourages students and faculty to collaborate across fields. The layout maximizes shared space to foster that creative, collaborative environment.
DFDG Architecture served as prime architect in association with CO Architects. Darrin Orndorff served as Architect of Record, with Denise Orr as Project Manager and Becky Tomasek leading interior design. The project was delivered using the CMAR method. The page should connect this work to healthcare education, research, simulation, and flexible learning environments.
DFDG Architecture used project-specific planning strategies to support ASU Health Futures Center’s operations, users, and long-term performance. Both the Health Futures Center and the Mayo Clinic Integrated Education and Research Building reflect a long-standing partnership between ASU and Mayo Clinic to advance healthcare education and research in the Phoenix area. The HFC was an earlier expression of that collaboration, while the IERB , completed in 2024, represents its continued evolution and expansion on the Mayo Clinic campus.