Architect Bill Neuhoff designs simulation labs, allied health spaces and nursing spaces for universities — and he’s been doing so for over a decade.
“I would say this is my niche. I love this type of space,” Neuhoff said. “I do other things in between, but when one of these comes, I want it.”
The University of North Texas Health Science Center is constructing their new simulation lab on April 13. The university plans to use the lab as a form of simulation training for students by using virtual reality headsets, simulated environments, exam rooms and observation rooms. (Cristian ArguetaSoto | Fort Worth Report) 
A wall blocks off the entrance to the new simulation lab from the Gibson D. Lewis Health Science Library lobby. (Cristian ArguetaSoto | Fort Worth Report) 
Bill Neuhoff, the resident architect at for the simulation lab, explains the history of the space they are building the lab in. The simulation lab space was formerly where information technology workers stayed. (Cristian ArguetaSoto | Fort Worth Report) 
Glass doors divide the main corridor from a simulation and practice room. The room will be used to house procedure observations. (Cristian ArguetaSoto | Fort Worth Report) 
The observation and procedure room will have monitors mounted on the walls to allow for more students to observe. In the current simulation lab, only four or five students are able to crowd an observation table while placing monitors allows for dozens of students to observe, Karen Meadows, the director of the simulation center at the University of North Texas, said. (Cristian ArguetaSoto | Fort Worth Report) 
A partition on the ceiling makes splitting the room possible so more than one procedure can be performed and observed. (Cristian ArguetaSoto | Fort Worth Report) 
Workers move cables on April 13. The construction of the new simulation lab is spearheaded by McGough Construction. (Cristian ArguetaSoto | Fort Worth Report) 
Construction at the University of North Texas Health Science Center started in 2021. The initial planning stage ran from August 2020 to December 2020. (Cristian ArguetaSoto | Fort Worth Report) 
A laptop charging bar sits outside of a debriefing room. The debriefing room will be used to talk about procedures after they are completed. The room also has a curtain that provides privacy to students. (Cristian ArguetaSoto | Fort Worth Report) 
Glass panels are blocked by paper. The glass will be used to observe a simulation apartment from the corridor. (Cristian ArguetaSoto | Fort Worth Report) 
The simulation apartment will use “standardized patients,” or actors who will play patients for students. In the “home suite,” students will interact with actors playing the role of patients. Emergency Medical Services personnel will also train here. (Cristian ArguetaSoto | Fort Worth Report) 
A hole in the wall will have a monitor mounted to it. The monitors allow for observation or simulation; activities from inside the simulated environment can be projected to other monitors and used to host symposiums, Bill Neuhoff, the resident architect, said. (Cristian ArguetaSoto | Fort Worth Report) 
The simulation lab will have fourteen 140 to 150 sq. ft.exam rooms that resemble clinic rooms. Architects perfected the details down from the sinks to the patient beds. (Cristian ArguetaSoto | Fort Worth Report) 
Exam rooms line the hallway. (Cristian ArguetaSoto | Fort Worth Report) 
A laptop charging bar outside of exam rooms allow for students to file reports after procedures. The students will be graded on their procedures and their reports. (Cristian ArguetaSoto | Fort Worth Report) 
Workers paint the main corridor. Neuhoff calls this corridor “starry night.” (Cristian ArguetaSoto | Fort Worth Report) 
An observation room has a one-way glass window that allows the University Of North Texas’ Director of the Simulation Lab Karen Meadows to observe and critique students during procedures. (Cristian ArguetaSoto | Fort Worth Report) 
The lab will have two 13-square-foot virtual reality rooms that will allow students to simulate emergency situations. One room will have two-dimensional and three-dimensional simulation while the other only has two-dimensional simulation capabilities. (Cristian ArguetaSoto | Fort Worth Report) 
A sign warns people of construction. McGough Construction is spearheading the construction duties. (Cristian ArguetaSoto | Fort Worth Report)
Neuhoff worked on Texas A&M Commerce’s nursing and health sciences building, Tyler Junior College’s nursing and allied health center and, most recently, the 16,000-square-foot Regional Simulation Center at the University of North Texas Health Science Center.
Designing staff met for hours to discuss details like doors and outlets. The designing team wanted to make the center as realistic as possible for students, as well as universally accessible for all kinds of people.
The simulation center will have 14 exam rooms, a debriefing room, a simulation apartment for students to practice taking care of patients at home, two virtual reality rooms, three laptop charging bars, several multipurpose team rooms, learning lounges and an observation room with one-way glass.
In the observation room, students will work with mannequins that, depending on their model, can breathe, bleed and even give birth. On the other side of the glass, Karen Meadows, the center’s director, grades the students on their performances.
The space inside the Gibson D. Lewis Health Science Library formerly housed information technology, but Meadows and Neuhoff began planning the switch in August 2020.
“Going through that whole visioning experience and what is it that you want to do? And where do you see this program going? Where do you see health care going? Where’s simulation headed? What kind of needs will we have in the future?” Meadows said. “And really thinking through that before we even got started with creating a design and then building.”
In the “Activities of Daily Living Lab,” which looks like an apartment — complete with a working fridge — students will interact with actors who play the role of patients to practice treating patients at home. Cameras inside the simulated apartment allow for projection to screens in the lobby — a “learning on display” tool.
“Learning on display is a recruitment tool,” Neuhoff said. “It can get everyone who is not a part of the program excited about the program.”
The “Activities of Daily Living Lab” can also be used by Emergency Medical Services workers to practice for crammed, real life scenarios. Emergency medical services workers often respond to calls for bathroom accidents.
Farther down the hall, 14 exam rooms allow students to simulate face-to-face, human interaction with patients. The spaces were designed to look almost identical to traditional exam rooms with sinks, cabinets, patient beds and a television monitor.
Professors can watch and review students as they perform procedures. Outside of the exam rooms, students and professors can review their film in a debriefing room.
The University of North Texas Health Science Center plans to host its grand opening for the simulation center to VIP members on June 23 and to students, administration, faculty and staff on June 24.
Cristian ArguetaSoto is the community engagement journalist at the Fort Worth Report. Contact him by email or via Twitter. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
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