Industry News

Virtua Health opened its $323 million replacement hospital in Voorhees, N.J., in April of 2011. The 690,000-sf project includes an eight-story, 364,000-sf inpatient facility housing 360 private beds and a five-story, 298,000-sf support services building. The complex was built by Turner Construction Company in 34 months.

Biogen Idec will begin construction in May of 2011 on the 180,000-sf Bio26 facility in Research Triangle Park, N.C. The building will include a five-story office tower and a wing housing an auditorium, conference rooms, and a cafeteria. The facility will support the growth of Biogen Idec’s biologics manufacturing operations. The construction manager for the project is RN Rouse. A minimum of LEED Silver sustainable design certification will be sought for the facility. Completion is expected in mid-2012. 

Deakin University began building the $50 million Regional Community Health Hub (REACH) at its Geelong Waurn Ponds campus in spring of 2011. The 73,195-sf facility will support health science instruction in optometry, pharmacy, and exercise and sports science. Connected to the adjacent Deakin Medical School, the three-story building will include labs, offices, tutorial and problem-based learning rooms, a simulation center, and a 200-seat lecture hall. Completion is expected in 2012.

Bioniche Life Sciences opened the Animal Health and Food Safety Vaccine Manufacturing Centre in April of 2011 in Belleville, Ontario. The livestock vaccine manufacturing facility has a fermentation capacity of up to 5,000 liters as well as downstream processing. The center will support rapid scale-up for commercial production.

Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center has selected Payette to design a two-story addition, including a partial lower level, to house an inter-operative suite with an overhead MRI and CT imaging system. The suite will be used for clinical cases that have some research component, with research collaborations primarily between Dartmouth-Hitchcock, Dartmouth Medical School, and Thayer School of Engineering. A third floor will be expanded and renovated to include two additional MRI areas and an adjacent imaging suite.