BIG RAPIDS — The faculty at the Michigan College of Optometry on the campus of Ferris State University have had a lot of time to think about moving out of their temporary quarters.

That temporary home of the school, a remodeled dormitory, housed the college for more than 34 years. Replacing that facility is the new home of the college, designed with the instruction of optometrists in mind from the ground up, with the input from faculty and staff, said Dr. Michael Cron, dean and professor of the College of Optometry.

“We had a long time to dream about what we’d like the facility to have to deliver instruction to students,” Cron said. “When you are in a temporary space for 30 years, when you are designing your own space, we wanted to build for the next 100 years. We wanted to design some flexibility into the space.”

The new home of the College of Optometry places it along State Street, in proximity to the College of Pharmacy and the College of Allied Health Education. The building, which is seeking LEED Gold accreditation, includes the University Eye Center, a patient clinic on the first floor, faculty offices and classrooms on the second, and labs on the third floor. One of the building’s real innovations, Cron said, is the Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow Interactive Eye Learning Center, a circular room for clinical training, set up with all of the equipment in an optometrist’s office. A single faculty member can then watch all students at once, and highlight questions and issues that individual students may have. Odds are if one student has a question, others do as well.

“If one pair of students in the module had a problem in the old space, it was hard to provide instruction to the group as they were all in separate rooms down a hallway,” Cron said. “It makes access to faculty so much easier and it facilitates the faculty’s ability to deliver information efficiently.”

Newmann/Smith Architecture of Southfield partnered with Atlanta-based Medical Design International for the design of the clinical space, visiting other schools of optometry and following students and clinicians through the University Eye Center. There was a focus on easing the flow of patients through the clinic so after being admitted, patients would be directed down different “spokes” with each hallway being dedicated to a particular activity, such as rooms that house low vision screening or procedures. This portion of the building was set into the hillside so as to ensure that rooms would be lightproof, said James Stock, lead designer on the project for Neumann/Smith.

“It was helpful to understand how the building and college operated,” Stock said. “The Illinois College of Optometry was recently renovated, so we got a sense of what worked and what didn’t. We set out to capitalize on the use of the space. Numerous colleges are looking at the Ferris State University model to look at what to do with optometry education.”

Classrooms were oriented toward the west to avoid heat gain, with faculty offices and the building’s atrium oriented toward the east to optimize natural light. By working closely with the faculty of the College of Optometry, the building is on the cutting edge of optometry education, said Joel Smith, owner of Newmann/Smith.

“We had visited almost every other college of optometry in the country with the university,” Smith said. “They wanted to be the benchmark for the country, I believe we’ve accomplished that.”