Industry News

Tufts University is constructing a 95,000-sf addition to the School of Dental Medicine in Boston. Designed by ARC/Architectural Resources Cambridge and built by Shawmut Design and Construction, the five-story vertical expansion is sited on top of Tufts’ existing 10-story facility. Occupancy is expected by year-end 2009. The $64 million project features two new clinical floors, an expanded simulation lab, instructional facilities, a conference center, and administrative offices.

The Department of Energy is planning a $1 billion expansion of the Spallation Neutron Source at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. A second target station will be constructed at the pulsed neutron scattering facility with completion slated for 2020. The project will support materials science and microscale biological research.

Sharp Memorial Hospital opened the $195 million Stephen Birch Healthcare Center in the Kearny Mesa area of San Diego in January of 2009. The seven-story, 334-bed facility features entirely private rooms with flat-screen televisions, two nursing stations per floor for optimal patient monitoring, and additional emergency and trauma center beds. The construction manager for the 315,000-sf acute care tower was Gilbane Building Co.

Ochsner Baptist Medical Center opened a $12 million expansion of its Uptown New Orleans campus in January of 2009. Comprised of a 6,000-sf emergency department, a 12-bed ICU, and a 43-bed inpatient wing featuring entirely private rooms, the project includes a comprehensive imaging center with MRI and CT instruments, six surgical suites, and two cardiac catheterization suites. The expansion was designed by Rozas/Ward Architects with Construction South as general contractor.

Ivy Tech Community College opened the Indiana Center for the Life Sciences in Bloomington in January of 2009. Created in partnership with the Monroe County government, the facility houses classrooms and training facilities for life sciences education. The 20,000-sf center was designed in collaboration with the Bloomington Life Sciences Partnership and accommodates classes in biotechnology, biology, chemistry, microbiology, biomedical technology, and advanced manufacturing. The facility houses four labs, three classrooms, and a manufacturing suite.