Industry News

Santa Clara University dedicated the new 194,000-sf Harrington Learning Commons, Sobrato Technology Center, and Orradre Library in Santa Clara, Calif., on March 14, 2008. The building merges liberal arts education with modern information technologies to form what is expected to become the intellectual heart of the Mission campus. Designed to foster collaborative learning, the new four-level building occupies the site of SCU’s former Orradre Library and has nearly twice the square footage.

Taconic, Inc. opened its new Isolator Breeding Solutions (IBS) facility in Rensselaer, N.Y. in March of 2008. Located in the University at Albany Foundation's East Campus biotechnology park, the 23,000-sf facility will accommodate isolator production of rats and mice for biomedical research. Enabling Taconic to expand its capacity for isolator breeding, the facility will feature advanced environmental regulation and monitoring systems as well as a redundant alarm system and backup power generator. 

The U.S. Army broke ground in March of 2008 on a $477 million communications facility at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. Part of the BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure) initiative, the 1.5 million-sf facility is expected to reach occupancy in fall of 2010. The general contractor is Whiting-Turner Contractors. The building will house C4ISR (command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) operations relocated from a base in Fort Monmouth, N.J. that is slated for closure.

Northrop Grumman Corp. will initiate construction in mid-2008 on a 100,000-sf laboratory and office building in Huntsville, Ala. The facility represents the second phase of the four-building, $80 million Cummings Research Park and will enable Northrop Grumman to consolidate area operations. 

Pennsylvania State University broke ground in March of 2008 on a $50 million facility for the Dickinson School of Law on the Carlisle campus. Designed and engineered by Polshek Partnership Architects with Gilbane as construction manager, the 94,000-sf project will feature ceremonial courtrooms, legislative hearing rooms, an auditorium, lecture halls, library, and technology-rich classrooms and instructional spaces. LEED certification will be sought for the project. Completion is slated for December 2009.