Emeryville, Calif.-based Neurobiological Technologies, Inc. (NTI) opened a new pharmaceutical vivarium in Moorrege, Germany, in winter of 2006. The facility is owned and operated by NTI’s partner, Nordmark Arzneimittel GmbH, and houses Malayan pit vipers for the production of Viprinex®, a drug for the treatment of strokes. The GMP facility currently houses 100 snakes and could eventually contain up to 1,500.
AMDeC Co., a consortium representing 35 medical institutions in the New York area, is creating a multi-institutional rodent housing facility in Yonkers, New York. Holding up to 80,000 cages and 40,000 mice, the facility will enable institutions such as Columbia University, Rockefeller University, the New York University School of Medicine, and the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System to share space and equipment for research.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine dedicated the 78,000-sf Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory on Oct. 2, 2006. The facility will test for animal diseases including chronic wasting disease, mad cow disease, and avian influenza. The building, which reached completion in September 2006 after two years of construction, includes a self-contained 1,200-sf BSL-3 facility, an electron microscope installed on a floating floor, and a 4,000 pound capacity tissue digester.
The University of Michigan has dedicated its new $220-million Biomedical Science Research Building in Ann Arbor, Mich. Gilbane Building Company and joint venture partner Clark Construction were construction managers for the 502,000-sf facility, a flexible, generic research space that will serve the needs of the Medical School. Gilbane's Midwest regional office oversaw the project.
Muhlenberg College occupied its new sustainably-designed science building in Allentown, Pa., in September of 2006. The ground floor of the facility houses Introductory Biology; the first floor, Organismal Biology; and the second floor, Cell and Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, and Neuroscience.
The University of Arizona expanded its Tucson campus with the completion of three new research and laboratory facilities in 2006. All three were designed by Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership of Portland, Ore. The $46.1-million, 85,000-sf Chemistry Building will consolidate chemistry teaching and research programs and is slated for completion in late spring of 2006. The project construction manager is Hensel Phelps Construction Co. The $65.7-million Thomas W.
Kansas State University expects to complete construction of the $54-million Biosecurity Research Institute on its Manhattan campus in late summer or early fall of 2006. The 113,000-sf facility will house 31,000 sf of laboratory and training space and 10,000 sf of administrative operations. Designed by architectural firm Peckham, Guyton, Albers, and Viet, the facility began construction in fall of 2004. The construction manager at risk for the project is Turner Construction.
The University of Georgia's College of Veterinary Medicine opened its $63-million Animal Health Research Center in early summer of 2006. Dedicated to the study of the treatment and prevention of emerging infectious diseases of zoonotic origin, the three-story, 75,00-sf BSL-3AG facility accommodates biocontainment spaces for the study of agents requiring BSL-1 to BSL-3 facilities.
A new federally funded $25-million research laboratory will be located on the University of Kentucky's College of Agriculture campus in Lexington, Ky. Design of the new facility has been awarded to the Washington, D.C., office of RTKL Associates Inc. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service will manage the building, which will include a 64,000-sf lab and a 11,000-sf greenhouse. The greenhouse is scheduled to begin construction in early 2007.
The University of Saskatchewan is initiating projects totaling between $460-million and $490-million on its Saskatoon campus. The $250-million Academic Health Sciences Center is currently in the design phase with construction to begin in 2007 and reach completion in 2010-2012. The seven-story facility will house an animal research facility and a BSL-2 laboratory. A second building will house a new school of public health, a library, meeting rooms, and a 500-seat lecture theater.
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has initiated the second phase of construction on its 331,000-sf Genetic Medicine Building (GMB). The $120-million multidisciplinary research facility, comprised of seven stories plus a mechanical penthouse, has a deep footprint of approximately 40,000 sf of contiguous space. The GMB is designed around a central atrium that brings light into the entire building, even into the enclosed labs and offices through punched-out windows and open doors.
The University of Washington will begin renovating laboratories at the Washington Regional Primate Research Center in Seattle in spring of 2006. Currently equipped for BSL-2 research, the primate facility will be upgraded to meet new research standards. The project is funded in part by $3.7-million from the National Center for Research Resources (NCCR). Completion is expected by year-end 2006.
The Province of Alberta opened a new $14-million animal disease research and testing lab in Edmonton on Feb. 7, 2006. The BSL-3 facility will accommodate testing for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), chronic wasting disease, and avian influenza. The Alberta Research Council and the University of Alberta will also use the facility for animal disease research. The 730-square meter, two-story facility features modular, flexible design and biocontainment necessities such as stringent air and waste handling systems.
Saint Louis University will construct a $67-million research building for the School of Medicine on its midtown Saint Louis campus. The 206,000-sf facility will have a ten-story tower on the north end and will be connected at the south end to the School of Medicine by a covered walkway. The first floor will be comprised of clinical core lab space, with flexible, modular research laboratories and offices on floors two through eight.
Virginia Tech began construction in September 2005 on a 72,000-sf life sciences research building on its Blacksburg, Va., campus. The three-story building will house animal care facilities and life science laboratories including microbiology labs, BSL-3 facilities, and a basement floor small animal vivarium. Meeting NIH and CDC research standards, the building will accommodate over 200 faculty, students, and staff. The total project cost is approximately $35 million. Completion is slated for summer of 2007.
