Jefferson College of Nursing

With a generous donation from philanthropist Edith R. Dixon, Thomas Jefferson University’s College of Nursing sought to improve and consolidate its current nursing educational program into a single facility. The new 44,000 square-foot building has significantly increased education and simulation spaces, grown student enrollment and increased faculty teaching positions to help provide nurses with clinical skills, real-world preparation and an excellent student-to-faculty ratio. The new location in Horsham, PA, will provide the College the capacity to double its enrollment over the next five years and help get nurses to the front lines.

Working in collaboration with the College, NORR developed a design that divided the facility into three distinct action districts: Focus, Learn and Apply. Modern faculty spaces, a 200-seat tiered lecture space and simulation lab are supported by a student-centered concourse filled with break-out, collaboration and meeting space to keep the districts interconnected. Designing for workplace wellbeing, mechanical system filters were upgraded to provide better air quality throughout, and fabrics and finishes were selected to withstand the rigor and meet the same cleaning requirements of a health care environment, further enhancing the simulation experience. Flexible classrooms, sometimes used for CPR training, are large enough to accommodate socially distant seating arrangements.

This integral facility will significantly increase education and simulation spaces, grow student enrollment, and increase faculty teaching positions. The architecture and design for this project supports a nursing program that markets itself as “reimagining, transforming, and disrupting the way nurses lead and impact society.” Known as the Dixon campus, the Horsham location is today a lively extension of Thomas Jefferson University’s main campus that continues and grows the university’s commitment to providing an active, participatory academic journey for nursing students.