Industry News

Arizona State University is planning to construct a $64 million digital innovation campus in downtown Mesa. Designed by Holly Street Studio and Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, the five-story, 118,000-sf project will provide galleries, theaters, production studios, fabrication labs, flexible classrooms, and a café.

Rice University is planning to renovate a former Sears building in Houston to create a 270,000-sf innovation center called The Ion. Providing event spaces, meeting rooms, and business incubation suites, the collaborative facility will support data science research initiatives and the development of new digital technologies. The complex, which will include dining and entertainment amenities, will host public programs including entrepreneurial workshops, networking sessions, training courses, and industry lectures.

Cranfield University began construction in January of 2019 on the Digital Aviation Research and Technology Centre (DARTeC) in Cranfield in the United Kingdom. Designed by Burrell Foley Fischer, the £65 million project will provide technology-rich laboratory spaces adjoining a live aerodrome with a hangar, a 737-400 aircraft, an intelligent movement area, and a remote air traffic control center with next-generation radar systems.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory is planning to build the Translational Research Capability project in Oak Ridge, Tenn. Located on ORNL’s main campus, the three-story laboratory and office building will provide between 80,000 and 115,000 gsf of space to support growing research programs in materials science and computing. A request for qualifications will be released in April of 2019 for the design-build project, which has an estimated construction cost of $58 million. Work will begin on the facility in early 2020 with completion expected by December of 2022. 

Capital One opened the Tech Incubator at the University of Maryland in College Park in November of 2018. Supporting collaborative research in data science, machine learning, and AI, the flexible 7,500-sf facility features 32 sit-to-stand desks in an open office area that can be converted into a meeting venue. Located in UMD’s Discovery District in a mixed-use development called the Diamondback Garage, the facility provides laboratories, a conference room, a lounge, a kitchen, and a game room.