Industry News

The United Kingdom’s Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) released £397 million in research facility funding in July of 2008. The Large Facilities Capital Fund awards include:

Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital has selected HGA as executive architect and Kohn Pederson Fox as design architect for the second phase of expansion at Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif. The project will include the addition of two four-story inpatient towers to the existing Stanford Hospital & Clinics campus. Construction will begin in 2010 with completion expected in 2014.

Stanford Medical Center is planning to construct a $2 billion replacement hospital in Palo Alto, Calif.  The seven story, 1.1 million-sf facility is slated for occupancy in 2015. Housing a total of 600 beds, the facility will meet state seismic safety requirements and will be designed with the flexibility to accommodate future medical technologies. The new hospital will include a Level 1 trauma center, an expanded emergency room, and positive pressure nursing units for the minimization of airborne contaminants.

Monsanto broke ground on its $6 million Learning Center in Gothenburg, Neb., in July of 2008. The 25,000-sf facility will support agricultural implementation of Monsanto’s grain hybrids. The project includes expansion of the company’s existing Gothenburg research facility and the creation of test plots. Completion is slated for April of 2009. 

Aspen Aerogels opened a $30 million manufacturing and production facility in East Providence, R.I., in July of 2008. The 150,000-sf project will be followed by two additional expansion phases at the East Providence campus. Aspen Aerogels, headquartered in Northborough, Mass., is a maker of aerogel thermal insulation products used in military and industry applications and hydrocarbon technologies.