Sustainability

The Greer Environmental Sciences Center at Virginia Wesleyan University is the institution’s response to a nearly 100 percent enrollment increase in their environmental sciences and biology department over five years. Located near the Chesapeake Bay, in Virginia Beach, the new 40,000-sf academic science building expands the university’s existing facilities to increase collaboration between science disciplines and regional partners, leveraging the school’s location at the mouth of the James River, where the 300-acre campus maintains a park-like setting with old growth forests and native wetlands in the middle of a dense, rapidly growing urban center.

San Diego State University dedicated the $95 million Engineering and Interdisciplinary Sciences Complex in January of 2018. Designed by AC Martin Architects to promote interaction and collaboration, the 85,000-sf project provides 11,500 sf of instructional space and 17 multidisciplinary labs with advanced instrumentation. The five-story facility features a nanofabrication suite, a creative design center, and an entrepreneurship hub.

The University of Washington opened the $87.8 million Nanoengineering & Sciences Building in December of 2017 in Seattle. Designed by ZGF, the 90,300-gsf interdisciplinary facility provides advanced research and teaching spaces for the departments of bioengineering, mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, and materials sciences. Strategically sited and constructed to minimize vibration, the building is located adjacent to the existing Molecular Engineering and Sciences Institute to foster collaboration.

Carleton University opened the CAD$52 million Academic Health Science Building in January of 2018 in Ottawa. Designed by Montgomery Sisam Architects and NXL Architects, the seven-story, 120,000-sf facility provides undergraduate teaching labs, research labs, lecture halls, offices, and study spaces to support neuroscience and health science programs. The project includes two floors of shell space to allow for future growth, as well as an animal research vivarium on the seventh floor that will open later in 2018.

The University of New Mexico opened the renovated Farris Engineering Center in Albuquerque in January of 2018. The $25.5 million project utilized the concrete structural skeleton of the original building that was constructed in 1967 to create a collaborative environment with ample natural light for the departments of chemical and biological engineering, computer science, and nuclear engineering.

Indiana University opened the $40 million Luddy Hall in Bloomington in January of 2018. Designed by RATIO Architects and Pelli Clarke Pelli, the collaborative teaching and research facility provides the School of Informatics and Computing with labs, classrooms, faculty and staff offices, conference rooms, a café, an auditorium, and space for student services. Housing the Intelligent Systems Engineering department, the four-story, 125,000-sf building also includes a 1,500-sf fabrication lab and a 3,500-sf innovation center.

The University of Northern Colorado is building the $73.6 million Campus Commons in Greeley. Providing offices for student services and space for UNC's world-class arts programs, the collaborative 114,000-sf facility will include a 600-seat performance hall, a 400-seat multiuse auditorium, an art gallery, a ticketing office, and a café. Ground was broken on the project in fall of 2016 and completion is expected in fall of 2018. LEED Gold sustainable design certification will be sought for the facility.

California State University, San Bernardino broke ground on the $55 million Center for Global Innovation building in December of 2017. Serving as the core campus centerpiece, the three-story, 71,000-sf facility will feature 24 collaborative learning classrooms, reconfigurable multipurpose rooms, and casual study lounges.

Xavier University and TriHealth broke ground in December of 2017 on the Health United Building in Cincinnati. Designed by MSA Architects, the four-story, 160,300-sf project will include a 104,400-sf fitness and recreation center with a four-lane pool, three exercise studios, three basketball courts, a gym, and a café.

The University at Buffalo opened the $375 million Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences in December of 2017 on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus. Designed by HOK, the collaborative 628,000-sf complex offers active learning environments, a surgical robotics center, simulation training suites, a gross anatomy lab, administrative and departmental offices, and 150,000 sf of flexible, multidisciplinary laboratories.

Harvard University is planning to develop the 900,000-sf Enterprise Research Campus in the Allston district of Boston. The 36-acre project will provide teaching, research, and residential facilities in a mixed-use setting that will include business incubators, space for private companies and nonprofits, and public green areas. The first phase of development will create 400,000 sf of office and lab space, 250,000 sf of rental housing, and 250,000 sf of conference and hotel space on a 14-acre site. 

Carleton University will begin construction in 2018 on a $48 million facility for the Sprott School of Business in Ottawa. Designed by Hariri Pontarini Architects, the six-story, 100,000-sf Nicol Building will feature flexible learning environments, collaboration spaces, conference rooms, and a dedicated venture accelerator for the Carleton Entrepreneurs. The technology-rich facility will accommodate executive and management training programs for business leaders as well as offering a variety of event and meeting venues.

Monsanto celebrated the completion of a $400 million expansion of its Chesterfield Research Center in December of 2017. Designed to accommodate agronomy research programs in biotechnology, plant genetics, data science, and crop protection, the 400,000-sf facility provides a conference center, 13 Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) rooms and 250 research labs.

In the concluding Open Forum/Town Hall session of Tradeline’s Facility Strategies for Animal Research and Biocontainment conference, moderator Derek Westfall, president of Tradeline, and subject matter commentators, Mark Corey with Flad Architects and Tiffini Lovelace with EYP Architecture & Engineering, led a knowledge exchange on questions posed by conference attendees. This is an edited transcript of that exchange.

Bucknell University will begin construction in spring of 2018 on the $38 million Academic East facility in Lewisburg, Pa. Designed by Stantec, the 78,000-sf project will provide four classrooms and 30 offices that will be shared by the College of Engineering and the Department of Education. The facility will also house over 25 engineering labs to accommodate collaborative research on materials science, fluid mechanics, food science, and sustainable transportation to enable the development of technologies for the optimization of human health.