Apple is planning to build a four-story, 269,000-sf research and development facility in Yokohama, Japan. Constructed on the site of a former Panasonic factory in Tsunashima-higashi, the sustainably designed project will feature highly efficient building systems, water recycling technologies, and a green roof. Construction is expected to commence by the end of 2015 with completion in 2016.
Ground was broken in March of 2015 on the $47 million Shriners Hospital for Children Medical Center in Lexington. The five-story, 110,000-sf facility is sited on the campus of the University of Kentucky and UK HealthCare will lease the top two floors to provide clinical space for ophthalmology. Shriners’ pediatric orthopaedic services will be housed in 60,000 sf on the first three floors. The medical center will provide 20 patient exam rooms, a motion analysis lab, two surgical suites, and rehabilitation facilities.
George Washington University opened the $275 million Science and Engineering Hall in March of 2015 in Washington, D.C. Located on the Foggy Bottom campus, the 500,000-sf interdisciplinary facility provides classrooms, integrated core facilities, and collaborative research spaces. Designed by Ballinger, the facility houses laboratories for biomedical engineering, nanofabrication, molecular genetics, imaging, and environmental engineering. The three-story high bay lab will support structural testing for large-scale construction components.
San Diego Mesa College opened the $40.5 million Social and Behavioral Sciences Building in February of 2015. The three-story, 74,000-sf facility provides classrooms for programs in history, anthropology, psychology, sociology, and communication studies, as well as laboratory space. The project has attained LEED Silver sustainable design certification and features a passive ventilation system, lighting and temperature sensors, and low-flow water fixtures. The architect for the facility was Joseph Wong Design Associates.
Reckitt Benckiser (RB) will begin building the $155 million Global Centre for Scientific Excellence in spring of 2016. Located in Hull in the United Kingdom, the 140,000-sf project will provide R&D labs and testing suites for healthcare product development. An adjacent energy center utilizing sustainable technologies will also be constructed.
Near net-zero energy usage is achievable for laboratory buildings only by employing a holistic approach that examines how all the available energy-saving technologies work together before focusing on a few, high-impact concepts. These concepts not only reduce energy costs by 50 percent or more, but also can significantly reduce upfront costs. Employed piecemeal, however, they can backfire.
The research infrastructure department at the Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University’s showcase research center, employs a dedicated facilities service organization with considerable in-house expertise, and granular benchmarking tools that track utilities and facilities costs in multiple categories of lab space, from LEED-certified green building features to general wet labs to secure ABSL-3 labs with a select agent program. In a state-sponsored research environment, where operating costs can go as high as $170 per net sf, optimizing building efficiency is critical.
Apple is planning to invest $2 billion to develop a global data center headquarters in Mesa, Ariz. The project involves building out an existing 1.3 million-sf manufacturing facility and the completed structure will be powered entirely by sustainable energy sources.
The University of San Diego is building the $18 million Betty & Bob Beyster Institute for Nursing Research, Advanced Practice, and Simulation. Ground was broken on the three-story, 30,000-sf building in May of 2014 and completion is expected in fall of 2015. Designed by gkkworks in association with The S/L/A/M Collaborative, the facility will house classrooms, faculty offices, three research units, the Dickinson Simulation and Standardized Patient Nursing Center, and the Krause Doctoral Research Library and Study.
The University of Chicago’s two-story, 2,450-sf Warren Woods Ecological Field Station is the first Passive House-certified laboratory in North America and only the fifth in the world. “Passive House” standards achieve minimal energy usage for heating and cooling, despite the presence of a minus-80-degree-Celsius freezer, plant growth chambers, an incubator, and tools for DNA extraction, all of which generate a lot of heat, coupled with a humid environment and a high level of occupancy by researchers.
Illumina is planning a 360,000-sf research campus in Foster City, Calif. Developed by BioMed Realty Trust, the build-to-suit project will include two highly flexible laboratory and office buildings as well as outdoor recreation areas. LEED Gold sustainable design certification will be sought for the campus, which is slated for completion in 2017. Illumina, a provider of genomic sequencing and diagnostics solutions, will initially lease the facilities for 15 years.
SUNY Polytechnic is building the $191 million Zero-Energy Nanotechnology (ZEN) building in Albany, N.Y. Designed by EYP Architecture & Engineering to support clean energy research, the 360,000-sf facility will provide labs, classrooms, offices, and a large central atrium. The building will also house the new data center for the state of New York and the headquarters of the U.S. Photovoltaic Manufacturing Consortium. CommerceHub will occupy 50,000 sf in the building.
Kent State University will begin construction in fall of 2015 on the $37.6 million Integrated Sciences Building in Kent, Ohio. Designed by Ayers Saint Gross and built by Turner Construction, the 57,000-gsf facility will be physically connected to the existing Williams Hall and will include 13,500 sf of shell space on the basement level. A minimum of LEED Silver sustainable design certification will be sought for the project. Completion is expected in summer of 2017.
AstraZeneca will break ground in early 2015 on its $500 million Global R&D Centre and Corporate Headquarters in Cambridge in the United Kingdom. Providing sophisticated pharmaceutical discovery and development facilities, the project will include space for biologics research, high throughput screening, medicinal chemistry, pre-clinical research, and clinical development. The 11-acre campus will accommodate approximately 2,000 employees.
The University of California, San Francisco Medical Center will open its $1.5 billion hospital complex at Mission Bay in February of 2015. The project comprises the Benioff Children’s Hospital San Francisco, the Betty Irene Moore Women’s Hospital, and the Bakar Cancer Hospital. The 289-bed complex is designed to support the integration of biomedical research with patient care and features advanced imaging suites, a helipad, and a fleet of robotic couriers to deliver supplies, meals, and medications.
