The University of Michigan will begin construction in fall of 2013 on a $50 million academic facility for the School of Nursing. The 78,000-sf building will feature active learning classrooms and a technology-rich clinical training center with simulation suites. The facility will also accommodate a small number of faculty offices. Ground was broken on the project in April of 2013 and occupancy is expected in 2015.
With academic research funding either flat or slumping, it’s time to rethink current laboratory design standards. Concurrent with the funding slide is a hike in both direct costs (salaries, for example) and indirect research costs like spending on facilities operation, equipment, and labor. At the same time, the demand for space continues to increase unabated.
UMass Memorial Health Care opened its 14,000-sf Cancer Center at Marlborough Hospital in September of 2013. Designed by The S/L/A/M Collaborative, the $12.8 million facility features an illuminated entrance pavilion, an infusion therapy space with abundant natural light, and a healing garden with a reflecting pool.
Winthrop University Hospital celebrated the topping out of the $65 million Winthrop Research Institute in September of 2013 in Mineola, N.Y. The five-story, 95,000-sf building was designed by Perkins Eastman and is slated for completion in 2015. The translational research and academic facility will provide classrooms, a clinical trials center, a simulation training suite, and core laboratories for the study of diabetes, obesity, cardiopulmonary disease, and neurology.
The University of Mississippi is planning to begin construction in fall of 2013 on a $35.5 million building in Jacksonville for the School of Medicine. The four-story, 138,000-sf facility will provide classrooms, laboratories, and offices. One floor of the building will house a simulation training center with mannequins and computers. Occupancy is expected in August of 2016.
The Sandler Neurosciences Center at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), is a developer-built facility created through innovative planning, development, design, and research. A public-private partnership—an alternative to the traditional design-bid-build model—applies private-sector efficiencies to an institutional project. Benefits include faster delivery, lower costs to build and operate, and reducing institutional risk by shifting responsibility for construction and ongoing maintenance to the developer.
North Middlesex University Hospital (NMUH) will open the two-story, 84,000-sf Women & Children’s Centre in London in November of 2013. The project is being delivered using the ProCure 21+ framework, with the building components being prefabricated in York by modular construction specialist Yorkon working in collaboration with main contractor Kier Construction. The facility will include 152 steel-framed modules with pre-installed utilities, doors, windows, and floors. The architect and project manager is AHP.
Deakin University is partnering with Epworth Health to build the Epworth Geelong Private Hospital in Victoria, Australia. The $277 million facility will provide 262 inpatient beds, 20 emergency beds, and 12 intensive care beds. The first phase of construction is slated for completion in June of 2016.
Getting the planning team on board with Lean project delivery from the outset of a project can net huge savings in both capital expenditures and long-term operating costs. A California hospital, for example, saved $700,000 and 550 sf per bed, and the project was completed 25 percent ahead of schedule, a level of efficiency that can be achieved in other industries, as well.
The University of Hong Kong Faculty of Medicine is building the $426 million Gleneagles Hospital in Wong Chuk Hang. The 503,000-sf facility will provide comprehensive clinical care including oncology, cardiology, neurosurgery, ophthalmology, and pediatrics. The 500-bed hospital will also house operating rooms, outpatient care clinics, imaging suites, and a cardiovascular laboratory. Completion is expected in late 2016 with occupancy in 2017.
Marian University opened the $55 million Michael A. Evans Center for Health Sciences in August of 2013 in Indianapolis. Housing the College of Osteopathic Medicine and the School of Nursing, the facility supports the implementation of team-based curriculum, experiential learning, and interprofessional education.
The University of North Carolina Hospital is using Building Information Modeling (BIM) to manage construction of its $156 million campus in Hillsborough. Designed by ZGF Architects, the project includes a 240,000-sf patient tower, a 14,000-sf central plant, and a three-story medical office building. Partnering with construction manager Skanska USA, UNC Hospital used BIM to plan the location of underground utilities, including integrating multiple building systems with existing rock formations.
The University of Florida celebrated the opening of the $45 million Clinical and Translational Science Building in Gainesville in August of 2013. The collaborative 120,000-sf project houses the 40,000-sf UF Institute on Aging, the Clinical and Translational Research Institute, conference rooms, training facilities, research laboratories, and clinical space. LEED Platinum sustainable design certification will be sought for the facility.
Queensland Children's Hospital is building the $125 million Academic and Research Facility (A&RF) in Brisbane. Created in partnership with the University of Queensland, Queensland University of Technology, and the Translational Research Institute, the ten-story project will provide five floors of wet and dry labs for advanced biomedical research. The remaining levels will house pathology services, retail, and parking. While the facility will house more than 450 researchers, the design allows for expansion.
The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs (UCCS) is building the $18.5 million Lane Center for Academic Health Sciences. The 54,000-sf facility will provide instructional space for the College of Medicine as well as housing the Trauma Health and Hazards Center, the Lane Family Senior Health Center, the Gerontology Center, the Aging Center, and clinical space for the Beth-El College of Nursing and Health Sciences. Completion is expected in January of 2014. The project is part of the planned eight-building, 575,000-sf National Sports, Art and Wellness Village.
