Latest Reports

It would have been easier to move than to modernize The Wistar Institute’s iconic Philadelphia buildings, including the original 1894 building and a vintage 1914 vivarium, all embedded within the University of Pennsylvania campus. Staying required a well-orchestrated plan to temporarily relocate people and animals, build a new vivarium under the new seven-story Robert and Penny Fox Tower, and upgrade infrastructure throughout the complex—replacing every major system including heating, steam, chilled water, and air handling—all while the research goes on.

Boston College has renovated 6,500 sf of undergraduate teaching laboratories in the Merkert Chemistry Building to create state-of-the-art learning environments that support strong interactive relationships between instructors, teaching assistants, and students. The project includes three teaching laboratories for general and analytical chemistry. The dual goals were:

With careful planning, institution-wide involvement, and innovative thinking, sustainability goals for science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) facilities can be met by renovating and remodeling instead of more expensive new construction, without compromising the educational mission.

The six-story, 50,000-sf Fraunhofer Center for Sustainable Energy Systems (CSE) occupies a renovated 1913 mercantile building in South Boston. The new research and office facility, with its brick walls and exposed steel and timber framing, showcases ways to incorporate advanced research and cutting-edge technology into an existing building while maintaining its historic character. The renovation incorporates all new energy-efficient building systems, with a focus on experimental systems that can be tested in a real-world application. 

The Translational Research Institute for Metabolism and Diabetes (TRI) is a unique stand-alone hospital-like facility that offers rare proof that facility design can accelerate the time it takes to go from new lab discovery to patient treatment. Utilizing a core-based model that includes imaging, pharmacy, kitchen, and lab cores in one location, the facility focuses on fast-tracking functional treatments for diabetes and obesity.