Continued signs of stable economic growth indicate that the recovery is gaining momentum in many parts of the United States and Canada. Construction selling prices for institutional projects grew at a 6 percent annualized rate in 2012, on top of a 3 percent increase in 2011. Construction costs are expected to continue stabilizing and rising in many regions as market confidence and capital spending increase.
The State of Vermont broke ground on a $39 million laboratory for the Department of Health in late April of 2013. Located in Colchester, the 47,844-sf building will be connected to the University of Vermont's existing biochemistry research facility to foster collaboration with investigators in the College of Medicine. The lab will house research programs on zoonotic disease agents and will support the identification of pathogens using molecular methods. The cost of construction is $30 million. Completion is expected by fall of 2014.
The University of British Columbia Centre for Comparative Medicine (CCM) is unique to British Columbia and is the largest facility of its kind in Western Canada. Spanning over 53,800 sf (5,000 square meters), the UBC CCM provides the flexibility to house and conduct research on medium- to large-sized animals and a variety of zoological species.
The Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory expanded and renovated its 19,500-sf laboratory in Amarillo to add a BSL-3 suite, the state's second such laboratory dedicated to animal disease diagnosis. The lab is designed to function primarily as a BSL-2, but contains built-in features and SOPs that allow it to convert to BSL-3 in the event of a suspected outbreak of a highly contagious animal and/or zoonotic disease.
The University of British Columbia's (UBC) state-of-the-art Centre for Comparative Medicine (CCM) demonstrates how providing an optimal environment for a variety of species not only is positive from an ethical standpoint, but also fosters better scientific research and can be a good business decision.
Spurred into action by a broken autoclave, Rush University Medical Center gutted and rebuilt its 30-plus-year-old BSL-3 lab and its anteroom, while converting existing adjacent offices into a dedicated mechanical room. The primary goals with the renovation were to bring the lab up to contemporary BSL-3 standards and to isolate its infrastructure and utilities from the rest of the Jelke Building, a mixed-use lab and patient-care building.
The Helmholtz Center Munich has selected HDR TMK to design the new Center of Integrated Diabetes Research in Germany. The four-story facility will include more than 50,000 sf of space dedicated to multidisciplinary diabetes research. HDR TMK will provide architectural, laboratory planning, and contract administration services for the approximately $41.6 million building. The BSL-2 life sciences center will facilitate basic research, translational research, epidemiology, and clinical applications as they relate to diabetes.
The Department of Homeland Security began site work for the 87,000-sf Central Utility Plant for the planned 574,000-sf National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility in March of 2013. The value of the construction contract is $80 million and the joint venture contractors for the project are McCarthy Building Companies and Mortenson Construction. Located at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kan., the facility will house heating and cooling systems as well as diesel generators for emergency power supply.
The University of California, Davis opened a $58.5 million research facility for the School of Veterinary Medicine in March of 2013. Featuring collaborative open laboratories, the four-story, 76,000-asf Research Facility 3B will support 40 teams investigating animal, human, and environmental health issues including zoonotic diseases, autism, nutrition, reproduction, respiratory disease, neurobiology, food safety, toxicology, and aquatic toxicology.
The University of Edinburgh began building the National Avian Research Facility in early 2013. The $22 million research laboratory represents a partnership of the Roslin Institute of the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies and The Pirbright Institute. The facility will include specific-pathogen-free (SPF) areas for research with genetically modified poultry. Completion is expected in late 2014.
India's National Institute of Virology has completed the Maximum Containment Laboratory in Pune. Established by the Indian Council of Medical Research, the BSL-4 facility is located in the existing Maximum Containment Facility and meets the biocontainment guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization. The Maximum Containment Laboratory is comprised of two suites, each providing a main lab and two animal labs. The secure facility includes a gamma radiation lab for sample processing and a training area.
Diamond Light Source, the United Kingdom's national synchrotron facility, opened the Crystal biocontainment imaging laboratory in February of 2013 in Oxford. The containment level three (CL3) facility supports the analysis of viruses and infectious diseases at the atomic and molecular level using synchrotron light.
The Clara Christie Centre for Mouse Genomics at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada, provides a centralized 33,000-sf facility for the production and breeding of transgenic mice, primarily serving researchers in western Canada. The center's design and operations address the needs not only of the research community, but also its animals, researchers, and staff, resulting in lower employee turnover, injuries, and sick days.
The University of Texas Pan American is planning to build a $96 million science facility in Edinburg, Texas. The 162,600-sf annex will accommodate programs in biology, chemistry, engineering, physics, geology, mathematics, health sciences, technology, and environmental studies. The project will provide two BSL-3 labs and five specialized research suites for imaging, tissue culture, instrumentation, radioisotopes, and an herbarium.
Tufts University began building the Arnold 8 Biosafety Laboratory in February of 2013. Located in an existing building on the School of Medicine campus in Boston, the BSL-3 facility will support research on tuberculosis. The laboratory is being built by Shawmut Design & Construction.
