Higher Education

In the largest higher education restructuring in the nation’s history, the facilities group at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, was elevated to a leadership role, taking its place alongside the offices of finance and research as part of an administrative troika whose heads now report directly to the president. The strategic alignment among these three functions was instrumental in allowing Rutgers to meet a legislative mandate that saw the university grow to 27 million sf in 1,009 buildings with a $3.7 billion operating budget and five different campuses in less than a year.

The Bush Science Center at Rollins College is a state-of-the-art facility built to expand the high quality of the sciences on campus, while at the same time support the College’s mission of a liberal arts education. The LEED Gold-certified building includes teaching and research laboratories, laboratory support areas, classrooms, computer classrooms, faculty offices, conference rooms, and building support spaces.

Lake-Sumter State College broke ground in December of 2015 on a 51,000-sf instructional facility for programs in science and healthcare. Designed by Leo A. Daly, the $11.6 million project will feature laboratories for biology, chemistry, physics, microbiology, organic chemistry, health science, and anatomy and physiology. 

Western Michigan University’s Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine has received Engineering News-Record's best project award in the higher education/research category for the Midwest region. The facility has also achieved the Silver Project Leadership Award for the Construction Owners Association of America.

The University of Georgia broke ground in December of 2015 on $25 million Center for Molecular Medicine in Athens. Designed by Flad Architects, the 45,000-sf project will provide biomedical research laboratories, a 7,500-sf vivarium, a microscopy suite, a cell culture lab, environmental rooms, faculty offices, and a conference room.

Saint Paul College broke ground in November of 2015 on the $19 million Health and Science Alliance Center in St. Paul, Minn. Designed by Oliver & Associates with Research Facilities Design (RFD) as laboratory design consultant, the 45,000-sf facility will provide two flexible classrooms for STEM and health science programs, four science labs, two simulation labs, three general classrooms, and three classrooms supporting industry partnerships. The project includes both new construction and renovated space.

George Mason University’s Exploratory Hall Science Building is the culmination of a five-story, 100,600-gsf renovation of the former Science + Technology II building, and a 64,000-gsf, four-story addition that connects to Planetary Hall. The renovated structure houses computational and dry laboratories; computer classrooms for GIS, computational science, and mathematics; lecture halls; and gathering spaces.

The University of Maine dedicated the $13.8 million Harold Alfond W2 Ocean Engineering Laboratory in Orono in November of 2015. Supporting the prototyping and testing of coastal, offshore, and underwater structures such as turbines, platforms, and ships, the project features a wave pool with a rotating wind machine capable of replicating hurricane conditions. The facility is located in the Advanced Structures and Composites Center, where a research and development lab for the study of thermoplastic materials is also being constructed.

Minnesota State University is constructing a $26 million clinical sciences building in Mankato. Designed to promote the collaborative delivery of team-based care, the 59,000-sf facility will consolidate programs in nursing and dental hygiene as well as speech, hearing, and rehabilitation services. The three-story building will provide classrooms, labs, offices, study areas, clinical space, observation rooms, and a model apartment. The general contractor for the project is Shaw-Lundquist. Completion is expected in late October of 2016.

Sacramento State University is planning to build the $91 million Science II facility in Sacramento, Calif. Providing advanced teaching labs and classrooms for programs in biology and chemistry, the design-build project will include faculty and student research space as well as areas for informal collaboration. Groundbreaking is expected in spring of 2017. The existing home of the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Sequoia Hall, will also be renovated to provide updated laboratories.

Suffolk University’s new 110,000-sf, 10-story academic building, 20 Somerset Street, contains four floors of general classroom space topped by four floors of lab space—1,100 classroom seats in all—in addition to a first-floor, 200-seat cafeteria that doubles as a function room. In the middle is a floor dedicated to student support services, including computer labs and a learning center. The building houses the university’s physics, chemistry, and biology departments, as well as the journalism and communications department and faculty offices.

Texas Southern University opened the Interdisciplinary Health Professions Practice and Simulation Complex in Houston in October of 2015. Providing classrooms and labs for the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, the technology-rich facility features the 20,000-sf Health Professions Simulation Center, which includes training suites for all major hospital functions including a pharmacy, a nursing unit, a clinical lab, a respiratory therapy room, and medical records department.

The University of Washington is planning to build the Nanoengineering & Sciences Building in Seattle. Designed by ZGF, the 78,000-sf interdisciplinary facility will provide approximately 43,000 ASF of research space for the departments of bioengineering, mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, and materials sciences.

Swarthmore College will begin construction in spring of 2017 on the $120 million Biology, Engineering, and Psychology Building (BEP) in Swarthmore, Pa. The facility will be developed according to the College’s Environmental Sustainability Framework, a standard equivalent to LEED Platinum, with some elements exceeding LEED Platinum criteria. The project will utilize sophisticated energy modeling technologies to optimize post-occupancy performance and will include an extensive geothermal system. Completion is expected in August of 2020.

San Diego State University broke ground on the $90 million Engineering and Interdisciplinary Sciences Complex in November of 2015. Designed by AC Martin to promote interaction and collaboration, the five-story, 85,000-sf facility will provide 11,500 sf of instructional space, 17 multidisciplinary labs with advanced instrumentation, and an entrepreneurship innovation center.