The University of Glasgow opened the £118 million Advanced Research Centre in January of 2022 in the United Kingdom. Designed by HOK, the 172,000-sf facility accommodates leading-edge research programs at the intersection of engineering, life sciences, chemistry, physics, social sciences, and the arts.
Caltech is planning to construct the Quantum Science and Technology Center in Pasadena, Calif. Accommodating interdisciplinary research programs in quantum sensing, quantum information, and gravitational-wave detection, the six-story, 47,000-gsf facility will offer four floors of airy interaction spaces and offices atop two levels of underground laboratories. Extensive interior and exterior glazing will admit natural light into the highly transparent structure, promoting visual connectivity and interaction among investigators and between faculty and students.
The University of Alabama at Birmingham is constructing the $76 million Science and Engineering Complex to create a collaborative nexus for teaching and research in the basic sciences. Designed by Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood, the four-story, 138,842-sf facility will house interactive classrooms, team learning rooms, faculty and staff offices, and project-based research labs that allow for student shadowing. Instrumentation suites will be located on an isolation floor to mitigate vibration.
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory completed construction in early 2022 on the $90 million Energy Sciences Center in Richland, Wash. Designed by Kirksey Architecture, the 138,000-gsf facility features 52 modular labs for fundamental research in chemistry, materials science, and computing. Accelerating the discovery of new energy, transportation, and manufacturing technologies, the state-of-the-art building includes an NMR spectroscopy suite and four imaging labs for advanced electron microscopy.
Imperial College London opened the £70 million Sir Michael Uren Biomedical Engineering Research Hub in London in December of 2021. Designed by Allies and Morrison, the 13-story, 215,000-sf building provides flexible laboratories, a 160-seat auditorium, and a variety of social spaces to foster interaction and informal knowledge exchange.
George Brown College broke ground in December of 2021 on a CAD$160 million mass timber building in Toronto. Designed by Moriyama & Teshima Architects and Acton Ostry Architects, Limberlost Place will house the School of Architectural Studies, the School of Computer Technology, and the Brookfield Sustainability Institute. The 10-story, 204,000-sf facility will also accommodate research labs, flexible classrooms, lecture halls, computer labs, meeting rooms, a childcare facility, and a three-story atrium.
The University of California, San Diego opened the $67 million Design and Innovation Building in La Jolla in November of 2021. The four-story, 74,000-sf facility is a dynamic hub for experiential learning and discovery that collocates entrepreneurial activities previously dispersed across campus. Sited adjacent to a new light rail station and an outdoor amphitheater, the multidisciplinary structure includes four distinct spaces.
The Ohio State University broke ground in November of 2021 on the $48.4 million Energy Advancement and Innovation Center in Columbus. Designed by Smith-Miller + Hawkinson Architects and Moody Nolan, the 66,000-sf facility will enable faculty members, students, entrepreneurs, and industry affiliates to pioneer new renewable energy technologies, smart energy systems, and green mobility solutions.
The University of Texas at Dallas and UT Southwestern broke ground on the Texas Instruments Biomedical Engineering and Sciences Building in November of 2021. Located on the East Campus of UT Southwestern Medical Center, the 150,000-sf facility will strategically collocate complementary research programs to foster the discovery and development of innovative medical solutions.
East Carolina University opened the $90 million Life Sciences and Biotechnology Building in November of 2021 in Greenville, N.C. Designed by Lord Aeck Sargent, the 141,500-sf facility provides leading-edge wet and dry labs for programs in biotechnology, bioprocessing engineering, biophysics, environmental engineering, biofuels, plant biology, environmental biology, and imaging and sensor development.
The University of Mississippi broke ground in October of 2021 on the $175 million Jim and Thomas Duff Center for Science and Technology Innovation in Oxford.
The University of Arizona broke ground in September of 2021 on the $99 million Grand Challenges Research Building in Tucson. Designed by ZGF Architects and BWS Architects, the 115,000-sf interdisciplinary facility will provide flexible labs for programs in optics, quantum computing, advanced communications, and biomedicine.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison is planning to begin construction in 2023 on a $225 million facility for the School of Computer, Data & Information Sciences. Catalyzing synergies between academic researchers and industry partners, the seven-story, 300,000-sf building will provide a dynamic nexus for Wisconsin’s growing tech ecosystem while meeting increased demand for programs in robotics, cybersecurity, software design, and machine learning.
Santa Clara University opened the $253.5 million Sobrato Campus for Discovery and Innovation in September of 2021. Designed by ZGF Architects with Research Facilities Design (RFD) as laboratory design consultant, the 270,000-sf facility provides leading-edge teaching and research environments for STEM programs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
Virginia Tech broke ground in fall of 2021 on the first academic building on its Innovation Campus in Alexandria. Designed by SmithGroup, the 300,000-gsf facility will offer experiential learning environments, maker spaces, flexible multipurpose areas, faculty offices, and research and testing labs for the school's graduate programs in computer science and engineering.
