Industry News

Imperial College London opened its £8.4 million bioengineering education and research facility in London in October of 2008. Located on the South Kensington campus, the project will provide research and teaching laboratories, lecture halls, offices, and conference rooms for the Department of Bioengineering.

FedEx Ground Package Systems signed a 30-year lease in October of 2008 for a 330,750-sf facility in Fairfield, Calif. The building is three times the size of FedEx’s existing facility in Benicia, Calif. FedEx will construct additional office facilities at the site to support its administrative, distribution, and shipping operations. Occupancy is slated for spring of 2009.

Middle Tennessee Medical Center is constructing a $184 million replacement hospital in Murfreesboro, Tenn. The 561,000-sf facility will include 10 operating rooms, 11 labor and delivery suites, an intensive care unit, emergency, and diagnostic imaging facilities. The 286-bed project is being built by Turner Construction and is expected to reach completion in November of 2010.

The North Carolina Research Campus celebrated the opening of three buildings on its 350-acre life sciences campus in Kannapolis in October of 2008. The $1.5 billion project was designed by Narmour Wright Creech Architecture and developed by Castle & Cooke. The campus includes the 311,000-sf Murdock Core Lab which features a basement vivarium housing 48,000 rodents.

Indiana University Bloomington broke ground on the 6,000-sf Research and Teaching Preserve Field Laboratory on October 20, 2008. Built by Turner Construction, facility will support research in environmental science, geology, and biology. LEED certification will be sought for the sustainably-designed project, which will house wet and dry labs, offices, and conference rooms. Completion is expected in spring of 2009.