Maker spaces, specifically designed to serve the needs of learners and best take advantage of local resources, are surpassing classrooms as the most effective way to educate science and engineering students. Students need access to a variety of equipment, technology, and spaces, from 3D and large format printers to sewing machines and electronic tables, from collaboration zones to woodworking areas.
The Rockefeller University is constructing the $300 million Marie-Josée and Henry R. Kravis Research Building in New York. Designed by Rafael Viñoly Architects, the two-story, 135,600-sf facility will provide flexible, open laboratories, two amphitheaters, offices, conference rooms, a dining area, outdoor terraces, and a green roof. Completion is expected in 2019.
Tarleton State University broke ground in late March of 2017 on a $54 million engineering building in Stephenville, Texas. Accommodating programs in computer science, engineering, and engineering technology, the three-story, 98,000-sf facility will feature specialized laboratories for robotics, prototyping, fluid dynamics, and materials testing. The project will also provide classrooms, offices, high-bay spaces, a flume, and a wind tunnel.
A dynamic, forward-looking partnership between the University of Michigan Medical School and the A. Alfred Taubman Health Sciences Library has transformed a relatively hidden, introverted, and utilitarian 1970s book repository into a vibrant 21st century learning hub. But the original goal of this $55 million renovation project was much more modest than a whole-building transformation: It was simply to improve the medical student lounge, a windowless basement space that with each passing year had become less inviting to prospective and current students, as other medical schools improved their student-life spaces.
North Central College celebrated the opening of the $60 million Science Center in March of 2017. Located in Naperville, Ill., the four-story, 125,000-sf facility will support progressive pedagogies for STEM education programs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Designed by Holabird & Root, the multidisciplinary building provides 18 teaching labs, 16 research labs, 15 seminar classrooms, 19 student gathering areas, 53 faculty and staff offices, a lecture hall, and a greenhouse.
The University of California, San Francisco will break ground in April of 2017 on the $275 million Precision Cancer Medicine Building. Designed by Stantec to optimize the delivery of patient-centered care, the 170,000-gsf facility will provide 63,000 sf of clinical space, 45 infusion bays, two accelerator vaults, specialized medical laboratories, and diagnostic instrumentation suites. The six-story building is located on UCSF's Mission Bay campus and will enable the consolidation of outpatient services in a centralized location.
SUNY New Paltz opened the $48 million Science Hall in March of 2017 in New Paltz, N.Y. Designed by ZGF Architects, the two-story, 77,000-sf facility provides lecture halls, collaboration spaces, and 20 laboratories to support STEM programs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. LEED Silver certification will be sought for the sustainably designed project, which was built by Niram Construction.
Drexel University is initiating $6.6 million in energy efficiency upgrades at its Philadelphia campus. Funded by the state of Pennsylvania’s Campus Energy Efficiency Fund (CEEF), the project will reduce energy consumption and emissions, upgrade five key buildings, increase comfort and safety in labs and classrooms, and lower overall operating costs. Upon completion, Drexel’s energy consumption will decrease by more than 25 percent in three science buildings and two mixed-use campus facilities which cumulatively account for more than 430,000 sf.
SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital is partnering with SLUCare Physician Group to build a $550 million academic medical center in St. Louis. Sited adjacent to the existing hospital campus, the 800,000-sf facility will provide a Level I trauma center and emergency department, 316 private inpatient rooms, intensive care units, and an ambulatory care center. Ground will be broken on the project in late August of 2017 with completion expected in September of 2020.
The University of Toronto is building the Centre for Engineering Innovation & Entrepreneurship in Toronto, Ontario. Designed by Montgomery Sisam Architects and Fielden Clegg Bradley Studios, the CAD$200 million facility will feature TEAL classrooms for technology-enhanced active learning, a two-story atrium offering abundant natural light, a 500-seat auditorium, and studios for design, fabrication, and prototyping.
The University of Cincinnati began construction in March of 2017 on the $61 million Health Sciences Building. The collaborative four-story facility was designed by Perkins+Will to support interprofessional medical education programs for the College of Allied Health Sciences. The 117,000-sf building will provide laboratories, classrooms, and offices. Completion is expected by early 2019.
Erie Community College is constructing a $30 million academic building to accommodate programs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Designed by Kideney Architects and built by Turner Construction, the two-story facility is located on the North Campus in Williamsville, N.Y. The 57,000-sf building will provide classrooms, labs, prep rooms, study lounges, faculty offices, a café, and a tutoring hub. Construction began in August of 2016 and occupancy is expected in January of 2018.
Georgia Southern University broke ground in February of 2017 on the $33.6 million Interdisciplinary Academic Building in Statesboro. Designed by HOK, the 110,000-sf facility will provide classrooms to support a progressive pedagogy of interactive, student-centered learning.
“Convergence” is the term increasingly used to describe the intermingling of disciplines in next-gen academic research facilities. Embodied by today’s moonshot-type initiatives targeting big picture-level discovery, convergence has been dubbed “the next scientific revolution.” It is characterized by collaboration among experts in multiple fields of endeavor tackling the major scientific problems of our time. From a facility perspective, convergence goes beyond the organizational progression that has seen traditional departmental siloes challenged by the move to multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary or clustered research. It brings together many diverse specialties, from biomedicine to engineering to business to law, in a single place.
The University of Maryland, Baltimore County began construction in May of 2017 on the Interdisciplinary Life Sciences Building (ILSB) in Baltimore. The 130,000-gsf facility will provide 70,000 net assignable square feet of technology-rich teaching and research space, including active learning classrooms, shared research labs, teaching labs, seminar rooms, and group project areas.
