University of Arizona Opens Applied Research Building

Published 4/28/2023

University of Arizona - Applied Research Building

^{Courtesy of SmithGroup.}

University of Arizona - Applied Research Building

^{Courtesy of SmithGroup.}

University of Arizona - Applied Research Building

^{Courtesy of SmithGroup.}

University of Arizona - Applied Research Building

^{Courtesy of SmithGroup.}

University of Arizona - Applied Research Building

^{Courtesy of SmithGroup.}

University of Arizona - Applied Research Building

^{Courtesy of SmithGroup.}

University of Arizona - Applied Research Building

^{Courtesy of SmithGroup.}

University of Arizona - Applied Research Building

^{Courtesy of SmithGroup.}

Tucson, Ariz.

The University of Arizona opened the $85 million Applied Research Building April of 2023 in Tucson. Collocating investigators from four colleges and eight departments, the three-story, 89,000-sf structure offers state-of-the-art laboratories for engineering, applied physical sciences, and advanced manufacturing. Serving as a world-class test and integration center for satellites, probes, and spacecraft, the interdisciplinary facility features an anechoic chamber, a 40-ton thermal vacuum chamber, a dynamic testing lab, and high-bay payload assembly labs for the construction of stratospheric balloons and nanosatellites. The ARB also houses cleanrooms, a mission operations center, conference rooms, faculty offices, and a new home for the university's Imaging Technology Laboratory.

Delivered by the design-build team of SmithGroup and McCarthy Building Companies, the sustainable development is expected to achieve LEED Silver certification. The stringent ventilation requirements needed to support such demanding research are balanced by mechanical systems that are projected to be 30 percent more efficient than the ASHRAE baseline for this type of facility. Ground was broken on the project in June of 2021.