Animal Research

Construction of two new laboratories and a central energy plant upgrade for Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is nearing completion on its Quisset Campus in Woods Hole, Mass. One laboratory, the 32,000-sf marine research facility, was constructed primarily for researchers to study marine mammals and their environment. The second new building is a 35,000-sf biogeochemistry laboratory to study organic materials in the marine environment. The two laboratories increase the Institution's scientific research space by more than 20 percent.

Baylor College of Medicine celebrated the groundbreaking of the Margaret M. Alkek Building for Biomedical Research in Houston on Sept. 16, 2005. The 203,000-gsf, eight-story facility will feature flexible lab and office space designed to foster interdisciplinary collaboration in areas including cardiovascular sciences, diabetes, cancer, pharmacogenomics, imaging, informatics, and proteomics. Completion is expected in May 2007.

Seoul National University began construction in August 2005 on the $25-billion won Hwang Woo-suk Research Center in Kwanak, Korea. The state-of-the-art medical bioengineering laboratory will accommodate research in primate studies, molecular biology, cell transplants, animal cloning, and stem cell research. Completion is expected in October 2006.

The University of Alaska (UAF) is constructing the $19-million Biological Research and Diagnostics Facility on its Fairbanks campus. Slated for completion in July 2006, the 42,000-sf facility will accommodate space for small animal research, necropsy, a diagnostics laboratory, and an incinerator. UAF received a $3.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health in late 2005 to enable the project to reach completion.

Vanderbilt University initiated construction in August 2005 on the Institute of Imaging Sciences (VUIIS) in Nashville, Tenn. Slated for completion in summer of 2006, the $26.7-million project will house a new $7-million, 7-tesla magnet on the ground floor that will be shielded with 400 metric tons of steel. The magnet will be installed in December 2005 and will be used in medical research for near-term identification of therapies and disease cures.

The University of Texas Medical School at Houston broke ground in April 2005 on a new 208,500-sf research facility. The six-story, $78-million project will house four floors of research programs in neurobiology, the molecular biology of human pathogens, structural biology, and physiological genomics/systems biology. The top two floors of the facility will house a new animal care center to replace the one destroyed by Tropical Storm Allison in 2001.

The National Institutes of Health has selected Gilbane as construction manager for a proposed Integrated Research Facility (IRF) at Fort Detrick, Maryland. Located on approximately six acres, the facility is intended to support research at BSL-2, BSL-3, and BSL-4. The proposed IRF may provide as much as 150,000 gsf of floor space, housing laboratory space for animal research, radiology equipment, mechanical space, and a waste-handling area.

The University of Georgia has selected Gilbane as the design-builder for the renovation and modernization of its College of Veterinary Medicine's 73,000-sf Animal Health Research Center, a BSL-3 Ag facility in Athens, Ga. The $35-million project includes reconstruction of laboratories, large animal suites, and support spaces to meet current codes; and upgrades to the existing building layout, security, systems, and functions.

The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) will initiate construction in March 2005 on the 161,757-sf Helen Diller Family Cancer Research Building. The $128.6-million facility will be the fourth major research building at the 43-acre Mission Bay campus. More than doubling UCSF’s cancer research space, the five-story structure will accommodate 46 principal cancer researchers. Occupancy is slated for December 2007. An 18,500-sf vivarium will house approximately 16,000 cages for lab research animals, including 12,020 rodent cages.

Taconic Farms , a supplier of research animals to laboratories, is constructing a new breeding facility on 27 acres in the Indiana Gateway Industrial Park in Cambridge City, Ind. The $18.8-million project will be built in three phases with completion expected in September 2005. Taconic Farms is headquartered in Germantown, N.Y.

Kissimmee Animal Diagnostics Lab in Kissimmee, Fla., recently opened a new 1,650-sf biosafety level 3 laboratory. As the only animal testing facility of its kind in the state, the lab will support Florida’s homeland security programs and response to food safety threats by providing rapid screenings for diseases such as BSE in cattle populations. Funded by the state, the lab is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s pilot network of state and federal surveillance labs and is equipped with advanced diagnostic equipment.

Yale School of Medicine’s Biomedical Research and Teaching Facility, known as 300 Cedar Street, is designed to maximize collaboration between basic and clinical scientific disciplines. Designed by Payette Associates, the 450,000-gsf project was dedicated on the New Haven, Ct.,campus in May 2003. A six-story, 350,000-gsf wing supports flexible laboratories for 700 scientists focused on disease-related research. A four-story, 100,000-gsf wing supports medical education including the school’s new gross anatomy and histology teaching laboratories for medical and physician associate students.

The University of Florida has recently completed a modular research complex of BSL-2 and BSL-3 laboratory space. Buildings for Science, a division of Britz-Heidbrink, completed the design, production, and installation of this world-class research facility in less than one year. The complex has its own mechanical room area, an office-break area, a unisex bathroom/change area, a pass-through shower into the BSL-3 lab with accommodating locker space, and two separate procedure areas.

Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) is constructing a new $35,000-sf facility at its Oregon National Primate Research Institute in Beaverton. Slated for completion in June 2004, the $11-million research facility will house 900 rhesus monkeys, adding 450 new animals to the site.

North Carolina State University has broken ground on a $35-million, 100,000-sf research facility, the first structure of the Centennial Biomedical Campus at the College of Veterinary Medicine.