UMass Amherst Celebrates Start of Construction on New SPHHS Hub

AMHERST — UMass Amherst hosted state and local leaders this week to celebrate the start of construction for a new $43 million School of Public Health and Health Sciences (SPHHS) hub. The 26,000-square-foot structure will serve as the heart of SPHHS, which currently has its six departments housed in seven locations around campus.

Construction of the new facility, at the corner of North Pleasant Street and Eastman Lane adjacent to the Totman Gymnasium, commenced in May and is scheduled to be complete in December 2025.

SPHHS houses some of the university’s fastest-growing programs focused on pressing public-health problems, as well as cross-cutting issues such as obesity and diabetes prevention, women’s health, global health, aging and healthy living, and autism-spectrum disorders. Currently, 88% of SPHHS graduates stay in Massachusetts, improving the quality of life in community settings where they work, including hospitals, laboratories, health departments, and community health and well-being programs.

UMass Amherst Chancellor Javier Reyes said the new facility will serve not only as a centralized location for SPHHS students, faculty, and staff to come together as a community, but also as a space to engage with and connect members of the local community.

“By strengthening the connection between our people and our place — our students and our community — we will help to ensure that our next generation of public-health leaders continue to stay in Massachusetts to live, work, and thrive in the years to come,” he noted.

SPHHS Dean Anna Maria Siega-Riz said the new facility will feature flexible, team-based learning classrooms, office space, time-shared cubicles, conferencing facilities, and open areas designed for informal work and collaboration. Additionally, the hub will include an outdoor event space to complement the interior academic program spaces to allow SPHHS to host a wide variety of outdoor events.

As an energy-efficient and sustainable facility, the SPHHS hub will aim to exceed the minimum certification level of LEED Silver, in keeping with UMass Amherst’s position as a sustainability leader in the Commonwealth. The building was designed by Boston-based Leers Weinzapfel Associates.