Biomedical

The University of Queensland opened the $70-million Australian Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN) in Brisbane on Oct. 23, 2006. Located on the school's St. Lucia campus, the six-level facility will accommodate research combining the biological, physical, and chemical sciences. Housing over 250 staff and students with a maximum capacity of 350, the center houses state-of-the-art microfabrication facilities, a GMP-ready bioprocessing facility, world-class microscopy facilities, and advanced data storage and visualization capabilities. 

Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center will open a new $24-million research center on its ten-acre Torrey Pines campus in San Diego on November 9, 2006. The 90,000-sf research facility will contain 71,000 sf of dedicated science research space, 54 benches, equipment rooms, and a conference center. Designed by Delawie Wilkes Rodrigues Barker, the research center was constructed by Rudolph & Sletten with Kavanagh Associates as project manager.

The University of Michigan has selected Gilbane Building Company as construction manager for its new 10-story, 215,000-sf academic medical center dedicated to ophthalmology and Type 1 diabetes. Partners include Cambridge architects Stubbins Associates and Clark Construction. The approximate completion date for the $78-million expansion is June 2009. The first three floors are devoted to clinics, the fourth to surgery, and floors five through eight are dedicated to research.

Columbia University Medical Center in New York has received an award from the National Institutes of Health of $54 million over five years to establish the Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research. Columbia is one of twelve academic medical centers in the U.S. to receive this Clinical and Translational Science Award. This funding will support construction that will enable Columbia to expand dedicated clinical/translational research space by 40 percent to a total of 35,000 sf.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine dedicated the 78,000-sf Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory on Oct. 2, 2006. The facility will test for animal diseases including chronic wasting disease, mad cow disease, and avian influenza. The building, which reached completion in September 2006 after two years of construction,  includes a self-contained 1,200-sf BSL-3 facility, an electron microscope installed on a floating floor, and a 4,000 pound capacity tissue digester.

The University of Michigan has dedicated its new $220-million Biomedical Science Research Building in Ann Arbor, Mich. Gilbane Building Company and joint venture partner Clark Construction were construction managers for the 502,000-sf facility, a flexible, generic research space that will serve the needs of the Medical School. Gilbane's Midwest regional office oversaw the project.

AstraZeneca has opened two new research laboratories in the United Kingdom in September of 2006. The £60 million ($112 million) Cancer Research Area Building in Alderley Park, Macclesfield, Cheshire is the largest facility in AstraZeneca's international research and development network and houses laboratory space for 265 scientists in the disciplines of bioscience, chemistry, and pharmacokinetics and includes mass spectroscopy and NMR equipment. The £16 million ($30 million) Biology Building has opened at the company's Charnwood, Loughborough, Leicesters

The University of California, San Diego completed interior construction on the expansion of its $17-million Biomedical Library in late summer of 2006. Located on the La Jolla campus, the exterior construction was completed in May 2006. The project entailed the addition of 39,000 sf and the renovation of the attached structure, creating one contiguous space totaling 74,690 sf.

Johns Hopkins University Medical School broke ground in September 2006 on a $45-million, 100,000-sf academic facility. The four-story East Baltimore building will include a 360-seat lecture hall, classrooms, laboratories, offices, and study areas. The facility, which will feature digital microscopes and technologies, will be named for $20-million donor Michael Armstrong when it opens in 2009.

Marshfield Clinic broke ground in September 2006 on the $40-million Laird Center for Medical Research in Marshfield, Wis. Housing research and clinical laboratories for diagnostics, genetics, emerging infectious diseases, and biomedical informatics, the 112,300-sf facility was designed by Marshall Erdman & Associates of Madison, Wis.. The project cost is comprised of $36.3 million for construction, infrastructure, and equipment, and $3.7 million for endowment. Completion is slated for early 2008.

The University of Utah opened the $14-million David M. Grant NMR Center on Sept. 8, 2006. The 24,000-sf facility began construction in summer of 2005 and will accommodate researchers in the disciplines of biology, medicine, chemistry, biochemistry, chemical engineering, geology, physics, and materials science. The construction cost of the building was $7,567,700.

Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) opened the 760,000-sf Janelia Farms Research Campus in Ashburn, Va., in September of 2006. Designed by architect Rafael Vinoly of New York City to support interdisciplinary biomedical science research, the campus has been in the planning and construction process for the last six years. Upon full occupancy in 2009, the permanent research staff will number 250 with the ability to accommodate up to 100 visiting scientists.

The University of Texas Health Science Center (UTHSC) at Houston is constructing three new projects. The planned $62-million Biomedical Research and Education center will accommodate adult stem cell research and teaching with laboratories, support spaces, multipurpose conference rooms, and office space. The University of Texas Dental Branch at Houston will replace its current six-story facility with a new building estimated to cost $9 million. Both projects will be located in the 100-acre UT Research Park jointly developed by UTHSC and the University of Texas M.D.

UC Berkeley will open the $162-million Stanley Hall in January of 2007. The 285,000-sf biosciences and bioengineering facility will house approximately 40 research labs, administrative and bioengineering department offices, and up to 10 core facilities. One of these core facilities, the 11,000-sf Biomolecular Nanotechnology Center, will manufacture chips for biochemical and medical applications. Stanley Hall will serve over 30 faculty and over 100 graduate students and is designed to foster multi-disciplinary collaboration.

Wayne State University has completed the $20-million renovation of the Gordon Scott Hall of Basic Sciences in Detroit, Mich. As the building is the main facility for the School of Medicine's teaching, research, and administrative functions, the project included the renovation of approximately 40,000 sf of space on the building's third floor, converting it to a research laboratory, specialized lab support, and office and classroom spaces for the Center for Molecular Medicine & Genetics and the Department of Pharmacology.