Collaboration

The State University of New York at Fredonia dedicated its $60 million Science Center in October of 2014. The three-story, 92,000-sf facility provides flexible teaching spaces, laboratories, and faculty offices to support STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education. Designed to promote interaction and collaboration, the interdisciplinary project consolidates the university's science programs in a single location. Ground was broken on the center in September of 2011.

The Westmead Millennium Institute for Medical Research opened its $110 million laboratory and headquarters facility in October of 2014 in Sydney. Designed by BVN, the nine-story, 188,370-sf building provides flexible labs and core facilities for the development of advanced biomedical therapies. The translational research center will accommodate up to 400 researchers, clinicians, postgraduate students, and staff, and features a central atrium to promote interdisciplinary collaboration and interaction.

The University of Arizona broke ground in October of 2014 on the $136 million Biosciences Partnership Building. Located on the Phoenix Biomedical Campus, the 10-story, 245,000-sf facility was designed by CO Architects and Ayers Saint Gross to support collaborative biomedical research. Providing wet and dry labs as well as computational space, the transdisciplinary project is being built by DPR and Sundt Construction. Completion is expected in early 2017.

The University of Virginia School of Medicine dedicated the Ivy Foundation Translational Research Building in October of 2014. Located in the Fontaine Research Park in Charlottesville, the collaborative, interdisciplinary facility will house twelve scientific programs and a clinical research unit for the creation of advanced biomedical therapies. Construction of the project is funded in part by a $45 million donation from the Ivy Foundation.

The University of Notre Dame broke ground on McCourtney Hall in October of 2014. The 220,000-sf research facility will house the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Comprising two wings connected by a collaborative core of faculty offices and conference rooms, the three-story building will provide 100,000 sf of open lab space. Construction of the facility is funded in part by a $35 million philanthropic contribution. Completion is expected in June of 2016.

The Jackson Laboratory opened the $135 million JAX Genomic Medicine facility in October of 2014 in Farmington, Conn. Located on 17 acres at the University of Connecticut Health Science Center, the four-story, 183,500-sf building features 17 wet labs and 17 dry labs arranged in flexible, collaborative clusters. The facility also provides core service labs, two large conference rooms, offices, a data center, and a 200-seat auditorium.

The Phase II addition to the John Edward Porter Neuroscience Research Center (PNRC) houses 419 occupants, including 45 principal investigators (PIs) from 10 separate NIH Institutes, along with 374 post-doctoral researchers. The PNRC is a state-of-the-art research facility that promotes world-class biomedical neuroscience research by enhancing interdisciplinary communication and collaboration as a means of facilitating innovation and creativity.

Kean University is constructing the Green Lane Academic Building in Union, N.J. Designed by Gruskin Group, the 114,700-sf teaching and research facility will accommodate programs in health and computer sciences. The six-story project will feature a 500-seat auditorium, technology-rich classrooms, and collaborative study lounges. Completion is expected in July of 2015.

As health science education becomes increasingly interprofessional, the design of academic medical facilities is changing to reflect this new type of learning. Collaboration is the cornerstone of interprofessional medicine, as health care providers strive to offer the best patient care. Nurturing such collaboration begins in the educational facilities where students from multiple disciplines learn the importance of working together.

The University of Georgia broke ground on the $44.7 million Science Learning Center in Athens in September of 2014. Designed by HDR, the 122,500-sf STEM facility will provide 33 instructional labs for chemistry, biology, and physics, as well as two 280-seat lecture halls and two SCALE-UP classrooms (Student-Centered Active Learning Environment for Undergraduate Programs). The general contractor for the project is Whiting-Turner. Completion is expected in spring of 2016 with occupancy in the fall.

The University of Alabama is partnering with Lockheed Martin to create a data science research lab. Located at the Culverhouse College of Commerce in Tuscaloosa, the facility will allow students to participate in the development and application of advanced analytics technologies. Still in the design phase, the laboratory will be located in Bidgood Hall and will feature a visualization suite with multiple plasma screens and digital projectors as well as collaboration spaces for small group work.

The Wistar Institute completed the $100 million Robert and Penny Fox Tower in Philadelphia in September of 2014. Designed by Ballinger to promote interaction and collaboration, the seven-story, 89,000-gsf facility provides advanced biomedical research space for the study of cancer, genetics, and vaccine development. Located on the University of Pennsylvania campus, the project represents an expansion of Wistar's existing facilities and increased the number of labs from 30 to 46, as well as delivering upgraded building infrastructure systems.

The University of Pennsylvania is constructing the $68.6 million Neural and Behavioral Sciences Building in Philadelphia. Designed by SmithGroup, the six-story interdisciplinary facility will support collaborative research in biology and psychology and will connect two existing structures. The 78,000-gsf building will house classrooms, research labs, offices, study areas, an auditorium, and interaction space. A minimum of LEED Silver sustainable certification will be sought for the facility, which will feature a metal mesh sunshade façade and a green roof.

High-performance core facilities, spurred by proliferating cross-disciplinary investigations and technological advances, can benefit from the long-standing focus on flexibility that has generated so many design efficiencies in the traditional research lab, says Randy Kray, senior vice president and science and technology director of programming and planning at HOK.

The University of Iowa completed construction of the $126 million Pappajohn Biomedical Discovery Building in July of 2014 in Iowa City. The six-story, 200,000-sf facility provides advanced research laboratories for faculty from the UI Carver College of Medicine. The interdisciplinary project was designed by Gwathmey-Siegel in collaboration with Rohrbach & Associates with Payette as laboratory design consultant.