Industry News

The College of St. Scholastica broke ground on the 45,000-sf Health Science Pavilion in August of 2015 in Duluth, Minn. Located on a three-acre site in the BlueStone business park, the $17.1 million project will provide labs and classrooms for occupational therapy, physical therapy, and physician assistant programs. The pavilion was designed by HGA of Minneapolis and will feature an interdisciplinary health clinic to support experiential learning. The general contractor is McGough Construction of St. Paul.

AMS AG (formerly Austriamicrosystem) will begin construction in spring of 2016 on a 360,000-sf wafer fab in Marcy, N.Y. Located on the 428-acre Nano Utica site, the project will support the production of analog devices on 200mm to 300mm wafers. Constructed by Fort Schuyler Management, the development will include office buildings and support space for a total buildout of approximately 600,000 sf. Production is expected to begin in late 2017.

Grand Valley State University dedicated the $55 million P. Douglas Kindschi Hall of Science in August of 2015 in Allendale, Mich. The four-story, 152,000-sf facility provides 15 teaching labs, 14 research labs, nine classrooms, conference rooms, study areas, a computational lab, and a 3,000-sf greenhouse. Research Facilities Design was the laboratory design consultant for the facility, which features interactive labs supporting a shared functionality in which faculty and students can engage in collaborative projects.

Texas Childrens' Hospital is building a $360 million pediatric health center in The Woodlands, Texas. The 548,000-sf facility will provide 74 outpatient rooms, 30 acute care beds, a 24-room emergency center, five radiology rooms, and four surgical suites. The hospital's flexible design will allow the project to open with 30 acute care beds, with the option of housing up to 200 additional beds in the future. Occupancy is expected in 2017.

Olympic College will begin construction in October of 2015 on a $50.1 million academic building in Bremerton, Wash. Designed by Schacht Aslani Architects, the three-story, 70,000-sf building will feature an active learning classroom, a 276-seat theater, a two-story atrium, and instructional space for health science, music, and fine art. LEED Gold sustainable design certification will be sought for the facility, which will utilize LED lighting, a 100-kilowatt photovoltaic array, and 90 percent heat recovery.