Animal Research

The Korea Research Institute of Bioscience & Biotechnology (KRIBB) broke ground in June of 2016 on the $16 million Support Center for Nonhuman Primates Resources in Jeongeup, South Korea. Located on a 775,000-sf site, the facility will act as a breeding colony for specific pathogen-free nonhuman primates that can be supplied to laboratories for biomedical and pharmaceutical research studies. Completion is expected in late 2017.

The University of Michigan is constructing the $261 million Biological Science Building in Ann Arbor. Designed by SmithGroup JJR and Ennead Architects, the 300,000-gsf facility will provide open, flexible laboratories for collaborative research as well as classrooms, offices, and a vivarium. The building is sited adjacent to the existing Life Sciences Institute to which it will physically connect. The general contractor for the project is Barton Malow Company and completion is expected in 2018.

Plymouth University is constructing the $22 million Derriford Research Facility at Plymouth Science Park in the United Kingdom. Housing advanced biomedical laboratories for the Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry, the 25,000-sf project will support clinical collaboration with the adjacent Derriford Hospital for the development of translational therapies. The facility will accommodate research on infectious diseases including Ebola and bovine TB as well as conditions such as Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's disease, and cancer.

South Dakota State University is building two new large animal research facilities. Construction began in October of 2014 on the $6 million Swine Education and Research Facility, which will include a classroom, boar and sow housing, research space, and a biosecure glass observation area. The $6 million Cow-Calf Education and Research Facility, slated for completion in spring of 2016, will provide offices, laboratory space, conference rooms, livestock evaluation pens, a monoslope research building, and replicated pastures.

The National Veterinary Research Institute has completed commissioning the Bio-Safety Level III Laboratory in Vom, Nigeria. The $2.5 million facility will enhance the Institute's ability to detect, diagnose, and respond to infectious diseases throughout West Africa. The duration of construction for the project, which was created in partnership with the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, was three years.

Microvivaria—customized, small-scale animal research environments, built within an existing building or as new construction—are a good option when research needs dictate a smaller, more focused facility; when a location is not viable for, or proximate to, a full-scale vivarium; or when speed to uptime is key.

A two-story renovation of the U.S. Geological Survey’s Great Lakes Science Center, and the installation of filtered fume hoods, provide the facility with more flexibility and adaptability in the future. The 13,000-nsf project included demolition, renovation, and construction of wet lab and office areas, fire protection, plumbing, HVAC, and electrical on the ground and first floors of the North Laboratory Wing.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison is planning to construct the $45.7 million Meat Science and Muscle Biology Lab. The two-story, 67,540-sf project will provide a biosafety laboratory, a meat laboratory, a teaching facility, and faculty offices. An existing structure currently located on the site, the Seed Building, will be demolished to allow the Meat Science and Muscle Biology Lab to be built. Construction will begin in July of 2017 with occupancy expected in spring of 2018.

SoBran BioScience is creating an animal research facility in Greensboro, N.C. Located on the north campus of the Gateway University Research Park, the laboratory and office building will support collaborative partnerships with North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. The facility will provide 8,500 sf of preclinical lab space designed to meet ISO 9001-2008 and GLP (Good Laboratory Practice) standards and attain full AAALAC accreditation.

The University of Cambridge is planning to build a $125 million biomedical research facility in the United Kingdom. The six-story, 190,000-sf Project Capella will house the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, the Milner Therapeutics Institute, the Cambridge Institute of Therapeutic Immunology & Infectious Disease, and the Cambridge Centre for Haematopoiesis and Haematological Malignancies. Lean construction methodology will be implemented in the delivery of the facility, which is slated for completion in the second quarter of 2018.

Complex technology, expanding program, and increasingly specialized and segmented roles and responsibilities often create a disconnect in the process of designing and building sophisticated facilities. The result can be a research or diagnostic lab or high-containment animal building that becomes a burden to the owner, whether because it hasn’t been right-sized, is not energy efficient, or operates with sub-par reliability. The solution is to assign someone the task of aligning design decisions with the building’s ultimate scientific mission.

A backlog of construction, renovations, and upgrades may finally come to life, thanks to the $2 billion increase in NIH funding Congress approved in December, the first increase in more than 12 years. More than 80 percent of the $32 billion NIH budget is dedicated to extramural research—research outside the NIH itself—meaning that an additional $1.6 billion in research grants will be made available this year.

A remarkable evolution in the tools and methods of research is driving a host of trends in laboratory planning and design, including fewer permanently assigned offices, a decided prioritization of computational over “wet” space, and an emphasis on core facilities and shared equipment, according to a survey of research organizations and A/E/C firms conducted by Tradeline.

The University of Georgia broke ground in December of 2015 on $25 million Center for Molecular Medicine in Athens. Designed by Flad Architects, the 45,000-sf project will provide biomedical research laboratories, a 7,500-sf vivarium, a microscopy suite, a cell culture lab, environmental rooms, faculty offices, and a conference room.

The Indian Council for Medical Research is planning to build the $51 million National Resource Facility for Bio-medical Research in Hyderabad. Located on 102 acres in Genome Valley, the world-class vivarium will accommodate the breeding and housing of animals as well as providing a training center for research personnel. The facility will enable the creation, development, and supply of a range of laboratory animals and related resources in support of the scientific efforts of medical colleges, universities, research institutes, and pharmaceutical companies.