Higher Education

The University of Idaho is building the $50 million Integrated Research and Innovation Center (IRIC) on its Moscow campus. Featuring flexible laboratories for interdisciplinary research, the collaborative 70,000-sf project will include a state-of-the art visualization suite, offices, conference rooms, and core labs with shared equipment. Ground was broken on the center in August of 2014, and completion is expected in fall of 2016 with occupancy in early 2017. LEED Gold sustainable design certification will be sought for the project.

Purdue University is planning to construct the $6 million Controlled Environment Phenotyping Facility in West Lafayette, Ind. The 7,300-sf project will feature two large growth chambers linked to a series of automated imaging stations. The facility will provide uniform growth conditions, enabling researchers to control experimental variables. Construction is expected to begin in February of 2017 and reach completion in January of 2018.

In order to increase capacity, improve student/faculty ratios, and boost space utilization by 150 percent, Purdue University’s College of Engineering developed a five-year strategic plan for increasing efficiency and space on the College’s main campus. The plan—which was driven by the need to meet the goal of a 30 percent growth in engineering faculty and staff, along with growth of graduate and undergraduate students—combines a mix of strategies including renovation, portfolio rebalancing, and new construction.

The 11-story, 820,000-sf Advanced Health Sciences Pavilion (AHSP) integrates world-class patient care, medical research, and teaching in a highly collaborative environment. Designed to bridge the gap between discovery and patient care, this new facility—home of the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute, neurosciences programs, and stem cell research—puts research labs in close proximity to clinical settings, so physician-scientists can transform medical care at Cedars-Sinai.

Case Western Reserve University is partnering with the Cleveland Clinic to build the $515 million Health Education Campus in Cleveland. Designed by Foster + Partners of London, the four-story, 487,000-sf facility will provide technology-rich classrooms, simulation labs, and auditorium space for interdisciplinary medical education programs. Ground was broken on the project in October of 2015 with completion expected by summer of 2019.

The University of Texas Medical Branch dedicated the $438 million Jennie Sealy Hospital in Galveston in February of 2016. Housing 310 private inpatient rooms, the 12-story tower provides 20 operating rooms, including a neurosurgery suite with an integrated MRI. The hospital also accommodates a 54-bed ICU and a 28-bed outpatient surgery unit. Construction began on the project in April of 2012.

Concordia College will begin construction in April of 2016 on the $45 million Integrated Science Complex in Moorhead, Minn. Designed by Foss Architecture and EYP Architecture and Engineering, the project includes the renovation of the existing Ivers and Jones Science Center and construction of a three-story, 58,000-sf atrium. The complex will include 130,000 sf of renovated space accommodating 19 teaching labs and 16 classrooms, including T-search labs for integrated instructional and research activities.

Texas Tech University is renovating an 80,000-sf facility in Lubbock to create the Maddox Engineering Center. The $30 million project will provide classrooms, wet labs, and materials testing suites for the Edward E. Whitacre College of Engineering. A 25,000-sf materials characterization center, located in the basement, will be available for use by industry and academic partners. The project includes the complete renovation of a former mass communications building and the installation of new utilities, infrastructure, and finishes.

Novartis and the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine celebrated the opening of the $27 million Center for Advanced Cellular Therapeutics in February of 2016 in Philadelphia. Accommodating the production of personalized cancer treatments using chimeric antigen receptor technology, the 30,000-sf facility features 23,610 sf of laboratory and cell therapy manufacturing space as well as a 6,300-sf cleanroom.

Bluffton University is planning to build the $14.5 million Austin E. Knowlton Science Center in Bluffton, Ohio. Housing the division of Natural and Applied Sciences, the 32,500-sf facility will provide three classrooms and 10 sustainably designed learning labs for programs in biology, chemistry, and dietetics. The center will support a progressive pedagogy with maximum internal transparency, enabling lab activities to be visible to students, staff, and visitors. Completion is expected in fall 2019.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison is planning to construct the $45.7 million Meat Science and Muscle Biology Lab. The two-story, 67,540-sf project will provide a biosafety laboratory, a meat laboratory, a teaching facility, and faculty offices. An existing structure currently located on the site, the Seed Building, will be demolished to allow the Meat Science and Muscle Biology Lab to be built. Construction will begin in July of 2017 with occupancy expected in spring of 2018.

The UWM Innovation Accelerator, funded in part by a federal economic development grant as the first building in a planned Innovation Park, is a public-private partnership that collocates business, industry, and academic research to launch intellectual property. The two-story building is sited to leverage the technology available in nearby institutions, such as the Milwaukee County Medical Complex, Children’s Hospital, and the Medical College of Wisconsin, and to attract researchers, faculty, students, industry leaders, entrepreneurs, and investors.

Beijing Construction Engineering Group and the University of Huddersfield in the United Kingdom have signed a five-year agreement to collaboratively develop Building Information Modelling (BIM) technologies. The partnership will leverage BCEG's expertise in lean construction practices with the University of Huddersfield's new degree program in Design Integration and Building Information Modeling. The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) will also create employment opportunities at BCEG for both undergraduate and postgraduate students.

The 12-story McGlothlin Medical Education Center at Virginia Commonwealth University, completed in 2013, facilitates a new model of collaborative, team-based learning. The C3 curriculum—centered on the needs of the learner, clinically driven, and using competencies as outcomes—reflects a two-year process of reinventing the first and second years of medical school (M1-M2) involving the dean, faculty, executive-level curriculum staff, and students.

Auburn University began construction in February of 2016 on two new health science facilities in Auburn, Ala. Designed to support advanced instruction in team-based healthcare, the $29 million School of Nursing will feature simulation labs, active learning classrooms, and spacious interdisciplinary teaching labs. The three-story, 89,000-sf building will also provide research space, faculty offices, conference rooms, a tiered auditorium, and a student lounge.