Interdisciplinary Research

The University of Louisville is constructing a $90 million facility to provide the J.B. Speed School of Engineering with dynamic environments for hands-on learning and discovery. Designed by Luckett & Farley and SmithGroup, the 114,000-sf structure will accommodate laboratories, classrooms, a maker space, design studios, and event venues. The four-story development will drive the growth of Kentucky’s technology-enabled economy by offering collaboration venues for shared exploration with industry partners.

San Diego State University broke ground in February of 2024 on the $95 million Sciences and Engineering Laboratories in Brawley, Calif. Located on the Imperial Valley campus, the 37,000-sf structure will provide flexible classrooms, teaching labs, and training venues. The sustainably designed building will also include the STEM Innovation Hub where faculty and students can engage in collaborative research. A covered outdoor courtyard will act as a year-round destination for informal interaction and study.

James Cook University opened the AUD$100 million Engineering and Innovation Place in February of 2024 on the Douglas campus in Townsville. Designed by KIRK Studio in association with i4 Architecture and Charles Wright Architects, the 101,180-sf building accommodates social learning environments, 23 laboratories, a maker space, conference rooms, and a multimodal studio. The modular and flexible structure also includes a soaring atrium and collaboration venues for shared development with industry partners.

Colorado School of Mines opened the $19.4 million Labriola Innovation Hub in February of 2024 in Golden, Colo. Designed by OZ Architecture, the 37,260-sf building features collaborative project studios and maker spaces where faculty, students, alumni, and industry partners can discover new solutions for critical societal problems. This campus-wide resource for invention supports both physical and computational approaches to ideation, prototyping, and testing.

Providence Health Care is planning to construct the CAD$638 million Clinical Support and Research Centre in Vancouver. Designed by Diamond Schmitt Architects and Kirsten Reite Architecture, the 370,000-sf facility will collocate world-class research labs with specialty physician practices to accelerate the translation of medical discoveries into solutions for patient care. Collaboration spaces will be intentionally woven throughout the building to promote interdisciplinary exchange between researchers, clinicians, and industry partners.

The University of California, Irvine is constructing the $250 million Falling Leaves Foundation Medical Innovation Building to accelerate the discovery of new modalities for disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. Designed by LMN Architects, the 215,000-sf structure will provide advanced wet labs where teams of investigators will engage in cross-disciplinary research. Featuring integrated collaboration venues and support spaces, the project will also include offices, meeting rooms, and a vivarium.

Cal Poly Humboldt is planning to construct the $100 million Engineering & Technology Building in Arcata, Calif. Designed by AC Martin to promote experiential learning, the 74,000-sf facility will feature multipurpose labs and classrooms equipped with adaptable room technologies for optimal programmatic flexibility. The three-story structure will offer a range of research venues, collaboration spaces, and gathering areas, as well as an interdisciplinary maker space that opens onto an outdoor fabrication zone.

The Ohio State University broke ground in January of 2024 on the $52 million Multispecies Animal Learning Center in Columbus. Designed by Wellogy, the 100,000-sf facility will provide the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences with a dynamic hub for training and research. State-of-the-art classrooms and demonstration areas will support a progressive pedagogy of experiential education, augmented by a series of interconnecting barns with specialized housing for swine, sheep, goats, cattle, horses, and poultry.

The University of St. Thomas opened the $110 million Schoenecker Center in February of 2024 in St. Paul, Minn. The 130,000-sf building was designed by RAMSA and BWBR Architects to foster interdisciplinary exchange by collocating STEAM programs in science, technology, engineering, the arts, and mathematics. Offering five levels of modular, multipurpose spaces, this vibrant destination for learning and discovery houses classrooms, studios, collaboration areas, and labs for biology, chemistry, physics, robotics, and engineering.

The University of Portland opened the $40 Million Shiley-Marcos Center for Design & Innovation in January of 2024. Designed by Opsis Architecture with Research Facilities Design (RFD) as laboratory design consultant, the 43,800-sf building features collaborative environments for hands-on learning and discovery. The cross-disciplinary structure provides maker spaces, ideation studios, prototyping and fabrication suites, a propulsion and combustion lab, and dedicated shops for working with metal, wood, and electronics.

The University of California is transforming a former shopping mall into a vibrant destination for research and innovation in Los Angeles. Purchased for $700 million from Hudson Pacific Properties and Macerich in December of 2023, the reimagined Westside Pavilion will collocate the California Institute for Immunology and Immunotherapy and the Center for Quantum Science and Engineering in the planned UCLA Research Park.

Imperial College London opened the £120 million Laboratory of Medical Sciences in January of 2024 on the Hammersmith Hospital Campus. Designed by Hawkins\Brown to support team science, this collaborative hub for translational research accommodates programs in genetics, sex-based disease differences, and heart and metabolic disorders. The 130,000-sf structure features highly controlled lab environments carefully interwoven with comfortable write-up spaces and shared amenities.

Tulane University opened the Steven and Jann Paul Hall for Science and Engineering in January of 2024 in New Orleans. Designed by Payette and Waggonner & Ball, the 76,000-sf building offers flexible research venues, sophisticated classrooms, and common spaces for increased student and faculty interaction.

The U.S. Department of Energy is planning to construct the Energy Materials and Processing at Scale (EMAPS) facility at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado. Located on the South Table Mountain Campus, the $224 million development will create a direct path from bench-scale materials and process innovations to pilot-scale integration and production.

Wexford Science + Technology will break ground in mid-2024 on Brightwork, the anchor building for the University of Washington’s planned innovation district in Seattle. The 345,000-sf facility will be constructed by Wexford for an estimated cost of $282.5 million, with UW investing $72 million for tenant improvements. After an 80-year lease, the 11-story structure will revert to university ownership.