Biomedical

The University of California, San Diego completed the $17-million expansion and renovation of the Biomedical Library on its La Jolla, Calif., campus in late spring of 2006. McCarthy Building Companies served as construction manager and general contractor for the project, which entailed the addition of 43,454 sf of space to the existing 32,950-sf library, as well as renovation of the existing structure. Los Angeles-based Pfeiffer Partners was the architect.

Wake Forest University has dedicated its new $72-million Biotechnology Research Facility 1 (BRF1), the sixth building at the Piedmont Triad Research Park which is located on 240 acres in downtown Winston-Salem, N.C. The University's Institute for Regenerative Medicine along with the Lipid Sciences Research Group will both be housed in offices and labs in the five-story, 187,000-sf structure, which commenced construction a little over two years ago. Architect for the project was O'Brien Atkins; Shelco Inc. was the builder.

The University of Puerto Rico (UPR) at Mayaguez has plans to break ground in summer 2006 on the $15-million Bioprocess Institute, which will provide both capacity for  monoclonal bioprocess research as well as perform pilot-scale production. At UPR's Rio Piedras campus, the $85-million, 150,000-sf Molecular Sciences Complex will break ground later in 2006.

Johns Hopkins University has plans to house The Institute for Basic Biomedical Sciences (IBBS) in the John G. Rangos Sr. Building, the first building to be built at the new life sciences Science + Technology Park at Johns Hopkins, which broke ground April 17, 2006. The Park is an $800-million development directed by East Baltimore Development Inc. that will include housing, retail, and other businesses and services.

The City of Buffalo dedicated the $131-million Buffalo Life Sciences Complex on June 2, 2006. Designed by Francis Cauffman Foley Hoffmann Architects, the 290,000-sf complex consists of two adjoined four- and five-story buildings built on the edge of the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.

The University of Alabama at Birmingham is initiating the second phase of its Richard C. and Annette N. Shelby Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research Building project. Phase two will cost approximately $120 million and will add 30,000-sf of research space, including the $7.89-million fit-out of the sixth and eleventh floors to house immunological and neuroscientific research, including the expansion of the Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute. The contractor is Argo Construction.

Wake Forest University and industry partners celebrated the grand opening of the 189,000-sf Biotechnology Research Facility 1 in Winston-Salem's Piedmont Triad Research Park in May of 2006. The five-story, $60-million facility will house space for private companies and academic space for Wake Forest Health Sciences' Institute for Regenerative Medicine and the Lipid Sciences program.   

Clarian Health Partners has completed construction of the new 164,000-sf Clarian Pathology Laboratory which will provide diagnostic testing services for Clarian hospitals patients in Central Indiana. BSA LifeStructures and Blackburn Architects as Blackburn BSA LLC designed the $67-million state-of-the-art structure; Wurster/Smoot was the builder.

The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) dedicated the Richard C. and Annette N. Shelby Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research Building on March 31, 2006. The $76-million, 323,000-sf facility is comprised of 12 stories of research and office space. Three floors remain unfinished to allow for additional phases of construction tentatively slated for completion by fall of 2007. The building increases UAB's research space by 25 percent.  

The University of Iowa dedicated the $43-million Carver Biomedical Research Building in Iowa City on March 31, 2006. The facility will accommodate the study of molecules, proteins and biological structures on five floors of research laboratory space including a state-of-the-art NMR facility. The building is the newest addition to the Carver College of Medicine and is connected to the Medical Education and Research Facility.

Groundbreaking on the new 85,000-sf Arizona Biomedical Collaborative building (ABC) on the Phoenix Biomedical Campus was celebrated on March 16, 2006. Housing Arizona State University's Department of Biomedical Informatics and the University of Arizona's College of Medicine wet lab space for diabetes, cancer, and neurological research, the facility is the first public building dedicated to research in Phoenix.

Stanford University School of Medicine has selected NBBJ of San Francisco to design the new $128-million Learning and Knowledge Center in Palo Alto, Calif. The project will be constructed on the site of the existing Fairchild Auditorium and will include renovations to the Lane and Always buildings. The 120,000-sf center will break ground in 2007 with completion expected in 2009.

Emory University has selected Boston-based Payette to conduct a feasibility study encompassing a precinct master plan for a replacement medical center for Emory University Hospital, Wesley Woods Hospital, and the Emory Clinic. The project, known as the Woodruff Health Sciences Center, allows for new research facilities to be adjacent to the diagnosis and treatment chassis connecting bench to bed. The first phase of implementation is estimated to be a 600,000-gsf multidisciplinary outpatient clinic and translational research building.

Novartis AG began construction in February 2006 on a new research, development, and production plant in Changshu, Jiangsu Province, China. Part of the Switzerland-based pharmaceutical company's global production and supply chain, the $83-million project is expected to be fully operation by year-end 2007. Novartis is also planning to expand its Beijing Novartis Pharma plant and possibly construct an additional research facility in China as part of the Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research.

The University of South Florida (USF) will break ground in spring of 2006 on the 70,000-sf Center for Advanced Learning and Simulation at the University Research Park in Tampa. Expected to cost between $60-million and $70-million, the center will house laboratories for physician skill training, medical product development, and a virtual hospital and simulation center. The facility will bring R&D and surgical skills training together under one roof. Completion is expected in late summer to late fall of 2007.