Higher Education

Northwestern University began construction in April of 2024 on an interior renovation of the Donald P. Jacobs Center in Evanston, Ill. Designed by William Rawn Associates and Sheehan Nagle Hartray Architects, the transformed facility will act as a beacon of innovation in the social sciences where tomorrow’s leaders will explore new solutions to pressing global challenges. The existing 340,000-sf structure most recently housed the Kellogg School of Management and was built in phases between 1972 and 2001.

Iowa State University opened the first phase of the new Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory in March of 2024. Located on the College of Veterinary Medicine campus in Ames, the 90,000-sf building houses essential infrastructure for sample receiving, pathology, bacteriology, necropsy, and histopathology. Strang provided integrated design services for the $75 million project, which leverages effective and efficient process flows to support an extremely high volume of testing.

Florida Polytechnic University broke ground in April of 2024 on the Gary C. Wendt Engineering Building in Lakeland. Designed by DLR Group, the $15 million facility is envisioned as a vibrant social hub where innovation converges with education. The 40,000-sf facility will offer four multidisciplinary labs where students can engage in hands-on learning, making, and research. Featuring raw materials and exposed structural elements, the two-story development will include an atrium, a conference room, collaboration spaces, and an office suite.

The University of Miami Health System is constructing the $250 million Kenneth C. Griffin Cancer Research Building in Miami. Designed by HOK, the 244,000-sf structure will provide the Miller School of Medicine with flexible laboratories where multidisciplinary teams will discover new modalities for cancer treatment and prevention. The collaborative facility will leverage advanced instrumentation and the latest machine learning technologies to accelerate the translation of scientific breakthroughs into life-saving therapies.

Georgia Tech broke ground in March of 2024 on the Thomas A. Fanning Student-Athlete Performance Center in Atlanta. Designed by The S/L/A/M Collaborative, the 100,000-sf sports science facility will accommodate strength and conditioning areas, a nutrition center, and clinical settings for both physical and mental health services. A motion-capture lab with advanced instrumentation will feed into an in-house data analytics office.

Virginia Commonwealth University broke ground in April of 2024 on the $253 million CoStar Center for Arts and Innovation in Richmond. Designed by William Rawn Associates and Glavé & Holmes Architecture, the 213,000-sf facility will feature flexible classrooms, interdisciplinary performance venues, maker spaces, and an expansive atrium with an interactive staircase.

The University of California is planning to construct the $300 million Medical Education Building in Merced. Designed by ZGF Architects, the 203,500-sf project will serve as the headquarters for a multicampus career pathway developed in partnership with UC San Francisco and UCSF Fresno. The four-story structure will provide class laboratories, specialized learning venues, general assignment classrooms, clinical practicum spaces, research labs, offices, and a café.

Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory will break ground in summer of 2024 on a 68,000-sf research facility at the Forrestal campus in Plainsboro. Designed by SmithGroup, the Princeton Plasma Innovation Center will offer laboratories of various sizes where PPPL investigators will engage in shared discovery with academic and industry partners. Open meeting venues with whiteboards will encourage the spontaneous exchange of ideas, and collaboration spaces equipped with advanced technologies will support interaction with remote participants.

The University of Kentucky broke ground in March of 2024 on the $60 million Martin-Gatton Agricultural Sciences Building in Lexington. Designed by BHDP Architecture, the 66,000-sf facility will offer technology-enabled learning environments for the education of tomorrow’s agricultural leaders. The ground floor will feature 15 large, flexible classrooms that can easily adapt to different pedagogical modes, complemented by an adjacent café where students can gather and interact.

Construction will begin in April of 2024 on the Wichita Biomedical Campus, an innovation hub where academia and industry can engage with clinical partners to create new healthcare solutions. The centerpiece of the project is a 471,000-sf tower designed by CO Architects and Helix Architecture + Design. The first four floors will collocate Wichita State University’s College of Health Professions and Speech-Language Hearing Clinic with WSU Tech’s Health Professions program.

The University of Pennsylvania is building the $173.5 million Vagelos Laboratory for Energy Science & Technology in Philadelphia. Designed by Behnisch Architekten, the seven-story, 113,764-sf facility will enable investigators from the School of Arts and Sciences and the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences to discover new solutions for energy generation, storage, and management.

In the 12 years between the conception and funding of Thurgood Marshall Hall and when an architect was hired to design it, the University of Maryland had added four research centers with 40 faculty and staff, creating a 20% shortfall in space and funding. Then at 60% construction drawings, the School of Public Policy added an undergraduate program. Learn how the university made creative use of every available corner of the new building to provide the program the students and faculty require.

The University of North Dakota was ready to build a new facility for its business and public administration students. They had a significant donor on board to help, but how to make up the rest of the budget? The answer, it turned out, was to engage donors not just in the funding, but in the design and function of the building, and incorporate their ideas into its fabric.

Cal Poly will begin construction in April of 2024 on the Charles and Claire Jacobsen Animal Health Center in San Luis Obispo. Designed by Gensler, the $30 million project will address a growing demand for courses in veterinary medicine and animal agriculture. Clinical environments will be collocated with academic functions to allow students to engage in experiential learning and training. Providing 17,500 sf of program space, the state-of-the-art building will offer wet labs, examination and procedure rooms, a surgical suite, and a necropsy facility.

Louisiana State University broke ground in March of 2024 on the Our Lady of the Lake Health Interdisciplinary Science Building in Baton Rouge. Designed by EskewDumezRipple, the $148 million facility will offer leading-edge environments for STEM education and discovery. The four-story, 200,000-sf structure will drive innovation in five key focus areas: geology and geophysics, chemistry, biological sciences, astronomy, and mathematics and physics.