Industry News

Novartis dedicated its $1 billion vaccine production facility in December of 2011 in Holly Springs, N.C.  Sited on 167 acres, the 430,000-sf project includes six buildings providing laboratory, manufacturing, and office space. Production of a pre-pandemic H5N1 flu vaccine has already begun. Utilizing cell-based vaccine manufacturing technology, the facility will be able to supply up to 25 percent of the doses needed in the United States in the event of an emergency. The complex will house up to 500 employees when full-scale commercial production begins in early 2013.

Okanagan College opened the $28 million Jim Pattison Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Building Technologies and Renewable Energy Conservation in December of 2011. Located in Penticton, British Columbia, the zero-energy, zero-waste facility features the largest photovoltaic solar array on a non-utility building in Canada. Supporting education, research, and training in sustainable design, the building includes interactive instrumentation for the monitoring of building systems. The facility also houses the Okanagan Research and Innovation Centre. 

The Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine dedicated its $126 million stem cell research facility in December of 2011. Located in La Jolla, Calif., the four-story, 150,700-sf building houses open labs, offices, a conference center, protein and nucleic acid analysis suites, and core facilities with advanced imaging and robotics. Ground was broken on the project in December of 2009. The general contractor was Lankford & Associates of San Diego, a subsidiary of Colorado-based Hensel Phelps Construction.

The $25 million National Imaging Facility opened in Sydney in December of 2011. Located in Camperdown near the University of Sydney’s Brain and Mind Research Institute (BMRI), the project includes a MeV cyclotron for the creation of radioactive isotopes, a radiolabeling facility, and a biomedical imaging lab with advanced analysis and modeling capabilities. The National Imaging Facility was created in partnership with the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation.

Humber River Regional Hospital broke ground on a 656-bed replacement hospital in Toronto in December of 2011. The 1.6 million-sf facility will feature an expanded emergency department, specialized outpatient services, and advanced infectious disease containment systems. The project developer is Plenary Health Care Partnerships and the value of the construction contract is $1.75 billion, which includes design, construction, building maintenance, life-cycle repair and renewal, and project financing.