Master Plans

East Los Angeles Community College District is planning to construct the $145 million Kinesiology, Wellness, and Athletic Complex in Monterey Park, Calif. Designed by HED, the 110,000-sf structure will act as a prominent campus gateway where students can connect with their peers, the local community, and the therapeutic power of nature. The biophilic facility will showcase the college’s health science programs to those attending sporting events, while catalyzing the evolution of the west campus as a destination for personal and social wellbeing.

Wake Forest University and Atrium Health are partnering with Wexford Science & Technology to construct the 360,942-sf Howard R. Levine Center for Education in Charlotte. Designed by Ayers Saint Gross and CO Architects, the 14-story project will provide Wake Forest University School of Medicine with world-class teaching labs, active learning classrooms, and areas for formal and informal collaboration.

Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., is a highly collaborative organization at the forefront of both research and clinical care, with 20% of clinical faculty supporting research studies and 12,000 studies under way at any given time. A central paradigm of its translational research workplace is a “condo” model, where a group of investigators with a well-defined mission elect to share research space and equipment to foster collaboration and innovation. Now, a recent initiative is harnessing data in new ways to build upon and expand the power of the condo to advance Mayo Clinic’s mission for decades to come. 

UNC Charlotte has plotted a course for the future that prepares the campus for an 11% enrollment increase overall, with a 13% increase in STEM disciplines. The priority is student success, a UNC systemwide performance-based metric for a new funding model that ties funding to student success and graduation rates rather than just enrollment numbers. The goal is for more students to graduate on time with less debt. The strategy to achieve that goal includes creating the kinds of spaces that students need and want in order to succeed, with more opportunities for active, hands-on learning.

The University of Connecticut has spent 10 years and $1.5 billion expanding and modernizing its science, technology, engineering, and math offerings, and increasing the number of STEM students by 4,000. The initiative, called Next Generation Connecticut (NextGenCT), included the construction of a new 198,000-sf facility and the renovation and expansion of the largest STEM building on the main campus in Storrs. The approach to both projects was to focus first on modernizing the way those subjects are taught and then on designing the space itself.

University Health Network of Toronto, Canada’s largest research healthcare system, increased space efficiency and improved employee morale by reengineering its practices and workspaces to accommodate a hybrid work model. Of the 6 million sf occupied by the network, 1 million sf was office space, 200,000 sf of which was used by people who could be hybrid workers. The transition required a concentrated change management strategy, an investment in technology, and a reconfiguration of space and the way it was managed.

Trammell Crow Company is developing Science Square in Atlanta to provide Georgia Tech with state-of-the-art facilities for learning, research, and innovation. Ground was broken in September of 2023 on the third phase of construction at the site, a 416,500-sf complex with two towers linked by a shared circulation core. Envisioned as a vertical quad, this dynamic social zone will offer myriad collaboration venues with a large gathering area for presentations and events.

The University of California, Riverside is constructing a vibrant new home for the School of Business. Created by the design-build team of Moore Ruble Yudell Architects & Planners and McCarthy Building Companies, the $87 million facility will centralize academic activities currently dispersed across campus while accommodating significant programmatic growth.

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.

The University of South Carolina is planning to break ground in 2025 on a new home for the School of Medicine in Columbia. Accommodating an expanded annual class size of 130 students, the highly transparent facility will feature world-class academic environments such as active learning classrooms, extensive medical simulation spaces, and a health science library. The 300,000-sf complex will catalyze biomedical discovery with a dedicated research building housing multidisciplinary laboratories.

Mayo Clinic is planning a $5 billion redevelopment and expansion of its healthcare campus in Rochester, Minn. Designed by Foster + Partners and CannonDesign, the strategic initiative will introduce new facilities that combine innovative care concepts and digital technologies to transform the patient experience, advance translational research, and improve outcomes. Comprising five new buildings, related infrastructure, and utilities, the project will provide a total of approximately 2.4 million sf of space.

Harvard University celebrated the beginning of construction on the Enterprise Research Campus in November of 2023. Located in the Allston neighborhood of Boston, the mixed-use project will feature leasable lab and office facilities surrounded by inviting public spaces, pedestrian walkways, restaurants, and retail amenities. The nine-acre development is strategically sited next to the Science and Engineering Complex and the Harvard Business School to further enhance the university’s thriving innovation ecosystem.

SKS Partners is planning to construct the Berkeley Space Center at NASA Research Park in Mountain View. Representing a joint venture with the University of California, Berkeley, the 36-acre innovation hub at Moffett Field will catalyze technological breakthroughs spanning astronautics, aeronautics, quantum computing, climate studies, and the social sciences.

The University of Alabama at Birmingham broke ground in July of 2023 on the $84 million Frances and Miller Gorrie Hall. Housing the School of Engineering, the 116,000-sf facility will enable a progressive pedagogy that blends academic instruction with hands-on learning and industry experience. With a welcoming commons opening onto an outdoor patio, the vibrant structure will provide flexible teaching and research labs, a design and prototyping lab, and a 2,000-sf materials testing lab.

McCord Development is planning to construct BioHub Two in northeast Houston. Comprising 500,000 sf of lab, office, and cGMP manufacturing space, the 45-acre campus will accommodate a total of seven structures offering built-to-suit environments for private companies. This dynamic nexus of innovation and discovery will catalyze synergies with San Jacinto College's planned Biotech Training Center, which will be located nearby.