Master Plans

Blinn College is planning to construct a $32 million academic facility on the RELLIS Campus in Brenham, Texas. Designed by Gensler, the Phase II Building will provide classrooms, faculty and administrative offices, and labs for programs in engineering and computer science. The three-story, 75,000-sf structure will also offer gathering and interaction areas, a student services center, a food vending court, and a large meeting room. Construction is slated to begin in February of 2021 with occupancy in fall of 2022. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will begin construction in early 2021 on the 160,000-sf High Containment Continuity Laboratory in Atlanta. Designed by a joint venture of Flad Architects and Page, the BSL-4 facility will support the CDC's mission to rapidly detect and mitigate public health hazards. Accommodating approximately 80 investigators, the state-of-the-art laboratory will be one of three centers in the world designed and certified to facilitate diagnostic research on specific, select viruses.

Global technology company Tencent is planning to build the 320-acre Net City in Shenzhen, China. The sustainable, self-contained development is being designed by NBBJ as a fully integrated 'city of the future' sited on 21 million sf of land. Terraced structures up to 30 stories tall will be nestled in abundant green spaces connected by pedestrian and cycle routes. Rooftop photovoltaic arrays will be mounted on most facilities.

Rutgers University’s new 110,000-sf, $84 million Richard Weeks Hall of Engineering, designed by The S/L/A/M Collaborative (SLAM) and opened in 2018, provides state-of-the-art teaching suites and labs for concept development, pilot manufacturing, high-bay testing, rapid prototyping, and microfabrication in an interdisciplinary environment that serves students, faculty, and industry. In addition to smart classroom configurations, flexible learning laboratories, and collaborative work space, the building itself serves as a lab and allows for data gathering and hands-on learning. Rutgers’ 2014 strategic plan identified its School of Engineering as central to the university’s growth and success, and this LEED Gold-certified facility represents the first step in a physical master plan that supports both the school and university strategic plans.

Colorado State University broke ground in May of 2020 on the $60 million Vida building in Denver. The 114,000-sf facility represents the first phase of construction at CSU's $200 million Spur campus at the National Western Center. The 250-acre site is being redeveloped to create a vibrant hub for the exploration of global issues including human and animal health, water quality, and sustainable food systems. 

The Human Technopole Foundation is planning to construct a 592,000-sf biomedical research campus in the MIND Milano Innovation District in Italy. Designed by Piuarch, the Human Technopole Campus will include a ten-story, 377,000-sf facility offering 177,000 sf of dedicated laboratory space. Comprising two flexible volumes connected by a full-height atrium, the $102 million building will include advanced instrumentation suites, 800 investigator workstations, meeting rooms, event venues, and space for several research centers.

The University of Lincoln broke ground in March of 2020 on the Centre of Excellence in Agri-Food Technology in the United Kingdom. Supporting the development of new technologies and resources for the region's agribusiness sector, the building will provide microbiology and chemistry labs, a sophisticated test kitchen and sensory suite, seminar rooms, and collaboration spaces. Willmott Dixon was awarded the £7 million construction contract for the innovation center, which will accommodate a community of leading industrial scientists and their support teams.

The University of South Florida broke ground on a $42 million innovation center in Tampa in March of 2020. Located in the USF Research Park, the 120,000-sf facility will provide researchers, entrepreneurs, and industry partners with leasable laboratory, office, and meeting facilities. Designed by Gensler, the three-story building will act as a catalyst for regional economic growth through the creation and commercialization of new technologies.

Schweitzer Engineering Laboratory (SEL) opened a $20 million R&D facility in February of 2020 in West Lafayette, Ind. Located in Purdue University's Discovery Park District, the three-story, 100,000-sf building offers leading-edge laboratory and support space for electric power research, development, and manufacturing.

The use of software to aid in master planning is nothing new. At Payette, however, designers and engineers have collaborated to create new software tools to solve master planning issues as they emerge. “We have a range of really complex problems,” explains Jeffrey DeGregorio, a principal at Payette. “Because they’re part of these large-scale master plans, we need to represent them very clearly to be able to tell a story. I think Payette occupies this complicated little niche—complex organizations, complicated campuses.”

The University of Connecticut is planning to construct the $240 million Science 1 building in Storrs. Housing the Institute of Materials Science and Engineering, the 198,000-sf facility will offer a 240-seat active learning room, specialized research labs, teaching labs, core labs, computational labs, a cleanroom, and faculty and administrative offices.

Emory Healthcare is building the 180,000-sf Emory Musculoskeletal Institute in Brookhaven, Ga. Part of the $1 billion Executive Park development, the facility will provide comprehensive orthopaedic services including spine care, physical therapy, imaging, and ambulatory surgery. The building will also include support space for clinical and discovery research.

George Mason University is planning to build a digital innovation campus in Arlington, Va. Creating a collaborative hub for research, education, and entrepreneurship, the project includes the demolition of an existing structure and the construction of a 360,500-gsf mixed-use facility and parking garage. Designed by EYP Architecture & Engineering, the $200 million building will house the School of Computing, the Institute for Digital InnovAtion (IDIA), and corporate R&D labs with co-working spaces.

The University of California, Davis has selected Wexford Science + Technology and GMH Capital Partners to develop the first phase of Aggie Square in Sacramento. The two firms will finance, design, construct, and own the facilities, which will include 250,000 sf of classroom and co-working space, 500,000 sf of engineering, science, and technology space, 30,000 sf of ground-floor public space, and approximately 200 housing units.

The Ohio State University is planning to construct two collocated research facilities in its West Campus innovation district in Columbus. Designed by Pelli Clarke & Partners and Moody Nolan, the 305,000-sf Interdisciplinary Research Facility will provide a vivarium, support spaces, and wet, computational, and core labs for programs in engineering and medical research.