Master Plans

VCU Health and Children’s Hospital of Richmond will begin construction in spring of 2019 on a $350 million inpatient pediatric hospital in Richmond, Va. Representing the completion of the Children's Pavilion, the 16-story, 500,000-sf facility will provide 86 beds in private rooms with the capacity to expand to over 120 beds in the future. The hospital will also accommodate six observation beds, a hybrid operating room, two general operating rooms, education spaces, and family rooms.

The National University of Singapore opened the six-story, 92,000-sf Net-Zero Energy Building in January of 2019. Providing design studios, teaching and research space, and common areas for the School of Design and Environment, SDE4 is the first new-build, net-zero facility in Singapore. WELL certification will be sought for the project, which features a rooftop solar farm with 1225 panels, a hybrid cooling system, and a narrow floorplate to optimize passive ventilation and natural lighting.

1. Bringing Real-time Interactivity to Campus Master Planning
2. Making an Old Science Building Relevant Again
3. Scientific Workplace Promotes Collaboration and Innovation
4. Massachusetts General Hospital’s New Methods and Metrics for Measuring Utilization of Research Space
5. Merck’s New Research Buildings Respond to Disruptive Technology, Changing Social Norms
6. Caltech’s New CAST Facility Simulates Testing Environments for Drones, Robots, and Satellites
7. Five Key Design Elements of Successful STEM Facilities
8. Novartis' Activity-Based Work Environments Have Broad Appeal
9. Well Buildings for Occupant Well Being
10. OHSU Knight Cancer Institute Offers Team Science Approach to Early Detection Research

Collin College is building a 339,000-sf campus in Wylie, Texas. Designed by Page Southerland Page to provide dynamic and flexible learning environments for programs in science, engineering, information technology, fine arts, education, and health care, the project comprises three multi-story instructional facilities including a student center, a campus commons, and a library.

Mayo Clinic is planning a $648 million expansion of its Phoenix medical facilities. The Arizona Forward Project will add 1.4 million square feet to the existing 1.7 million-sf campus, increasing the number of inpatient beds from 280 to 374. A six-story patient tower will be constructed offering an outpatient surgery center, clinical offices, inpatient rooms, and rehabilitation space. The emergency department will be housed in a new three-story structure that will also accommodate laboratory medicine, radiology, and pharmacy.

At the University of Minnesota, a renovation/construction project to add science space required detailed integration with the campus district plan, as well as preservation of historic features. The result was enhanced physical connectivity on campus, a careful blending of older and new construction, and improved energy performance. Tate Hall is one of 260 structures on the main Twin Cities campus, which is so large that planners have divided it into districts for planning purposes. The urban campus straddles the Mississippi River, and Tate, a horseshoe-shaped building first constructed in 1926, sat largely empty, as most of the physics department had recently moved to a new research building.

NASA Glenn Research Center will begin construction in fall of 2018 on the Research Support Building in Cleveland. Walsh Construction Company has been awarded a $32.7 million contract to build the two-story, 64,000-sf facility, which will provide collaborative engineering suites, open and private offices, conference rooms, training areas, and dining amenities for approximately 164 employees.

Boeing will lease approximately 100,000 sf of research space to house the Aerospace and Autonomy Center in Cambridge, Mass. Part of MIT's Kendall Square Initiative project, the facility will be located on four floors of a 17-story, 400,000-sf building currently under construction at 314 Main Street. Occupancy is expected in late 2020. The $2 billion Kendall Square Initiative includes the development of six sites to provide research space, offices, housing, retail, and academic facilities.

The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth is planning to break ground in November of 2018 on a $134 million student housing and dining complex. Developed and operated in partnership with EdR, the $107.8 million, 267,500-sf residential project will include living units, classrooms, maker spaces, two lounges with demonstration kitchens, two computer learning commons, and music practice rooms. A $26.1 million, 38,000-sf dining commons will also be constructed, with occupancy of both structures expected in fall of 2020.

16 Tech Community Corporation will break ground in fall of 2018 on the $30 million Advanced Research and Innovation Facility in Indianapolis. The Indiana Biosciences Research Institute will lease space in the five-story, 120,000-sf building, which represents the first phase of construction in the 16 Tech Innovation District. The 60-acre development will include a second office and research building, a 250-unit apartment complex, and renovated warehouse facilities.

The University of Calgary is engaged in a multiyear construction and renovation of its campus core in Alberta, Canada. The MacKimmie Complex and Professional Faculties Building Project includes the complete renovation of an existing tower and block and the construction of a new atrium linking the two structures. The facilities will provide large classrooms, open study areas, and small group spaces to promote collaborative learning.

Charles Schwab is engaged in a major expansion of its 50-acre Gracy Farms campus in north Austin. In June of 2018, the financial services company opened two five-story buildings providing 469,000 sf of office space, as well as an amenities center and a parking garage. Featuring a 275-seat multipurpose auditorium and an onsite yoga studio, the complex offers integrated campus walking trails and flexible sit/stand workstations.

The trustees of Kent State University have approved a ten-year campus master plan that represents an investment of $1 billion over the next decade. Enhancing the iconic Front Campus, the three-phase project will create healthy living-learning environments connected by a walkable campus core linking purpose-built classrooms, labs, and studios.

Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) has mandated that Building Information Modeling (BIM) be implemented in the final phase of its $9 billion construction program. LACCD, which is the largest community college district in the United States and comprises nine colleges, is also targeting net-zero energy consumption in the sustainable development of its extensive portfolio.

What the university needs: A spacious, modern science building, with an additional 5,000 sf. What the university has: An old, dark, rather cramped classroom building, built for a different era in education, with inadequate systems, and no room to expand. It’s a common problem on university campuses, and in many cases solving it requires flexibility, creativity, and patience. At the University of Pittsburgh, Howard Skoke, AIA, of EwingCole Architects and Engineers and the university’s own Ilona Beresford worked together on a six-month master plan to devise a $65 million modernization. The project, scheduled to begin construction in May 2019, will open the building to new uses and adapt its systems for health and efficiency. At the same time, it will preserve a historic exterior and cost far less than a new building.