The Northern Crops Institute at North Dakota State University

Winner of R and D Magazine's prestigious Lab of the Year award, the Northern Crops Institute incorporates a unique sensitivity to both technological requirements and rural architectural traditions. The 78,000-sf complex resembles a Midwestern farm from the outside, but houses highly sophisticated laboratories on the inside. There are research facilities for cereal crops, soil seeds, and sugar beets, as well as an electron microscope lab that the USDA shares with North Dakota State University.

Project Information

Building Owner:

United States Department of Agriculture

Building Location:

Fargo, ND UNITED STATES

Project Type:

New Construction

Principal Building Function:

Biology and genetics research

Project Delivery Method:

General Contractor

Project Timeline

Jan 1988	Completion
Last known status: Completed

Project Cost:

$8,900,000

Construction Cost:

$8,300,000

Cost Per Sq. Ft:

$106

About These Cost Figures

Building Information

Project Includes:

Atrium
Auditorium
Biology
Ecology
Education
Education: Biology
Education: Lecture Or Seminar Hall
Education: Life Sciences
Greenhouse
Laboratory
Laboratory: Wet
Life Sciences
Plant Growth Chambers
Research

Total GSF:

78,000

Project Team

Architect

Hammel Green and Abrahamson Inc. (HGA)

Architect

Lightowler Johnson Associates, Inc.

Contractor

Meineke Johnson, Inc.

Profile Created 01/01/1988

Last Updated 04/04/2006

About the Reported Cost Figures

The cost figures reported are supplied by the firms that submitted these projects for publication, which in most cases are the designers or builders. Whereas these sources are intimately familiar with their projects, they may not be fully aware of the owners' finally-realized and recorded costs. In some cases, costs are truly and completely accounted for, and in others they represent a near approximation of the final costs. Costs have not been adjusted for year of construction, nor has any attempt been made to make regional cost adjustments.

Further, costs are not comparable on any kind of detailed standard costing model. Hence, it is possible for the cost of one building to include a steam boiler, while the cost of a comparable building might not include the boiler, if steam is being supplied from an already existing campus grid. Or, in another case, a building might include excess boiler capacity to supply steam to another building. Some submittals include fees or unusual site improvements as part of the construction costs, which others do not.

Fig. 1

Rural, Yet Sophisticated

The 78,000-sf complex resembles a Midwestern farm from the outside, but houses highly sophisticated laboratories on the inside. (Photo courtesy of Hammel, Green and Abrahamson Inc.)

Fig. 2

Award Winner

The Northern Crops Institute won R and D Magazine's prestigious Lab of the Year award in 1988. (Photo courtesy of Hammel, Green and Abrahamson Inc.)

Fig. 3

Lab Interior

Highly sophisticated laboratories include space for research in cereal crops, soil seeds, and sugar beets. (Photo courtesy of Hammel, Green and Abrahamson Inc.)

Fig. 4

High-tech Equipment

An electron microscope lab is shared between the USDA and North Dakota State University.(Photo courtesy of Hammel, Green and Abrahamson Inc.)