Industry News

Western   Washington   University, located in Bellingham, began work on its new Communications Facility in mid-August, with a formal groundbreaking to follow in October. Designed by Zimmer, Gunsul, Frasca Partnership of Seattle, the 130,000-gsf, four-story facility will provide additional general classrooms for the university as well as instructional space for the departments of Physics, Computer Science, Communications and Journalism.

Purdue University is developing Phase 3 and 4 of the Heine Pharmacy Laboratory renovation project. The National Center for Research Resources at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded $2,970,000 to fund the four-phase renovation of over 20 laboratories in the Robert E. Heine Pharmacy Building that support NIH-sponsored research. Total cost for the project, with matching funds form Purdue, will reach approximately $6 million.

Western   Washington   University (WWU) is building a new 100,000-sf Student Recreation Center on its Bellingham campus. Groundbreaking for the facility, designed by Seattle firm BJSS/Duarte Bryant, took place in early March. The recreation center, slated for completion in fall of 2003, will house a three court gym, multi-activity court, six lane lap pool and sauna, weight and fitness training areas, elevated jogging track, and a rock climbing wall. WWU has also opened its new Campus Services Facility, which began construction in April of 2001.

PurdueUniversity is expanding the School of Chemical Engineering with a 96,000-sf addition. Part of the Purdue University Schools of Engineering Strategic Facilities Plan, the expansion includes an interactive multimedia learning center, a teaching lab for chemical engineering fundamentals, and an integrated lab complex for chemical and polymer engineering. The project will also house biomedical, catalysis and surface science research clusters. The addition is designed as flexible laboratory space to foster teamwork, interactive discussion and innovative research.

The University of Massachusetts Amherst is developing Engineering Laboratory II, a $20,616,000 facility providing graduate research laboratories for the Chemical Engineering and Civil/Environmental Engineering Departments. As phase II of the Engineering and Computer Science Complex, the facility is being built just south of the project’s first phase, the Computer Science Building. Designed by Ellenzweig Associates and Whitney Atwood Norcross, the 60,000-sf building will feature a 45-seat distance learning center and a 195-seat auditorium.