Florida State University opened a new home for its Herbert Wertheim College of Business in January of 2026 in Tallahassee. Designed by Goody Clancy, Legacy Hall aims to catalyze excellence in education, research, and innovation. The $160 million facility provides a 300-seat auditorium, multiple 100-seat lecture halls, leading-edge classrooms, and dedicated zones to forge connections between faculty, students, and industry partners.
Michigan State University is planning to construct the Engineering and Digital Innovation (EDI) Center in East Lansing. Supporting increased enrollment for undergraduate and postgraduate cohorts, the $340 million facility will house the colleges of engineering, natural science, business, social science, arts and letters, and communication arts and sciences.
In an era of expanding research portfolios and heightened expectations for interdisciplinary collaboration, universities face intensifying pressure to strategically plan, manage, and optimize research space. Research facilities, wet labs, maker spaces, core facilities, and computational suites, represent some of the most limited and costly assets in the academic environment. As competition for high-quality laboratories and specialized rooms grows, institutions are re-evaluating entrenched practices, strengthening policy frameworks, and adopting data-driven systems to ensure that space is allocated efficiently, transparently, and equitably. The most successful universities treat research space not as a static inheritance but as a strategic resource that must evolve with the institution’s mission.
Arkansas Children’s is constructing the $75 million National Center for Opioid Research and Clinical Effectiveness (NCOR) on the site of the Little Rock hospital campus. Designed by ESa (Earl Swensson Associates), the 65,000-sf facility will enable pioneering longitudinal studies on the effects of opioid exposure on family and pediatric health to guide treatment approaches and inform policy decisions.
Mass timber construction is widely lauded for its sustainability benefits, including wood’s natural carbon sequestration, lower embodied energy footprint, lighter weight as compared to steel or concrete, and essential renewability. But does it pay off in terms of a university’s performance standards and cost concerns when embarking on a project as ambitious as Oregon State University’s Jen-Hsun and Lori Mills Huang Collaborative Innovation Complex, a $213 million, 143,000-sf facility dedicated to advanced programs in artificial intelligence, robotics, energy, and materials science? Scott Ashford, OSU’s dean of the College of Engineering, and Libby Ramirez, the university’s resident architect, argue that with careful strategy and an eye toward the data, the answer is “yes.”
SJP Properties broke ground in July of 2025 on a state-of-the-art R&D headquarters for Nokia Bell Labs in the Health & Life Science Exchange (HELIX) district in New Brunswick. The 370,000-sf tower features a build-to-suit design, with leading-edge environments and building systems tailored for precise functions within Nokia Bell Labs’ innovation and research operations. Office settings will be accompanied by sophisticated laboratories integrating robust strategies for vibration mitigation.
The University of Illinois at Chicago opened the $118 million Computer Design Research and Learning Center in July 2025. Designed by LMN Architects and Booth Hansen as an expanded and consolidated home for the Department of Computer Science, the 135,000-sf facility will drive groundbreaking research and provide world-class training opportunities for graduates entering high-tech and engineering careers.
Fermi America is partnering with the Texas Tech University System to establish the Advanced Energy and Intelligence Campus in Amarillo. Also known as the HyperGrid, the visionary development will provide crucial infrastructure to meet the growing demands of artificial intelligence, data innovation, and sustainable energy. The 5,769-acre site will accommodate 18 million sf of data center space and will eventually generate up to 11 gigawatts of IT capacity.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will begin construction in late 2025 on the first phase of Exploration Park in Houston. Developed by the American Center for Manufacturing and Innovation (ACMI) and Griffin Partners, the dynamic ecosystem will provide up to 22 facilities with leasable environments for commercial space innovation. Build-to-suit options will range from 50,000 sf to 250,000 sf, with multi-tenant structures offering footprints of 15,000 sf to 100,000 sf.
The University of Delaware opened a $180 million science and innovation facility in April of 2025 to catalyze interdisciplinary discovery and expand educational capacity. Built on the former site of McKinley Hall in Newark, the 132,500-sf building houses research and teaching labs with damp and dry functionalities, faculty offices and student workspaces, and conference rooms. Standing three stories above grade, the structure’s basement level accommodates an extension of UD’s Bio-Imaging Center, physics labs, and areas for the fabrication of advanced materials.
Purdue University broke ground on a $168 million facility for the Mitch Daniels School of Business in April of 2025 in West Lafayette, Ind. Designed by Gensler and BSA, the 164,000-gsf structure will feature sophisticated labs for behavioural research, financial training, and data visualization. Dynamic conference venues will be accompanied by studios enabling online and hybrid pedagogies.
Related Midwest and CRG are planning to establish the $9 billion Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park (IQMP) in Chicago. Supported by $500 million in state funding, this dynamic nexus will enable the entire ecosystem of researchers, suppliers, end users, and partners to accelerate quantum innovation, scale-up, and commercialization. The strategic location on the former U.S. Steel South Works site will ensure optimal access to academic affiliates, local talent, and power and water infrastructure.
Rice University opened the Rice Nexus in February of 2025 in Houston's Midtown neighborhood. Spanning 10,000 sf across two floors, the university’s flagship innovation hub is based in the Ion building to drive entrepreneurship and commercialization in association with industry partners. Tramonte Design Studio's vision for the Rice Nexus created labs for advanced tech development and free office space for early-stage startups, as well as showcasing faculty and student inventions.
Stanford University opened its new 167,000-gsf Computing and Data Science building in January of 2025 in Palo Alto, Calif. Designed by LMN Architects to drive interdisciplinary research and innovation, the facility houses the Stanford Data Science and Impact Labs initiatives, as well as undergraduate programs in computer science and symbolic systems. The five-story structure offers a flexible framework of permanent offices, rotating research team areas, and collaboration environments to allow programs to adapt and evolve over time.
Construction has begun on the College of the Desert's $268 million campus in Palm Springs, Calif. Designed by WRNS Studio, this regional hub for education and innovation will provide dry labs, maker spaces, and studios for architecture, recording, and film. With multiple buildings spanning 27 acres, the 175,000-sf complex features The Accelerator, a two-story structure accommodating programs in digital media and arts, healthcare, and architecture.
