Higher Education

The University of Illinois officially broke ground on the $24 million Integrated Bioprocessing Laboratory in Urbana in October of 2014. Part of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences, the facility will feature a biofuels pilot plant for UI's Center for BioEnergy Research. Supporting collaborative development with industry partners, the 43,000-sf lab will provide two classrooms, flexible processing suites with moveable walls, and 300-liter fermenters for biofuels testing.

Texas A&M University broke ground on the $53 million Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory in November of 2014. The 90,000-sf facility will house advanced technologies for sample testing to support animal and human health as well as food safety. Designed by Perkins+Will, the project will feature integrated laboratories, a full-service necropsy suite, and BSL-2 and BSL-3 areas. Vaughn Construction will begin building the facility in spring of 2015 with completion in approximately 18 months.

Davidson College began site work for its $74 million science center in November of 2014. The interdisciplinary project includes 120,000 sf of new construction comprising a multistory atrium and a two-wing expansion of the existing Martin Laboratory, which will be completely renovated. The departments of biology, chemistry, environmental science, psychology, and neuroscience will occupy the building, which will include 20 teaching labs, 34 research labs, 47 faculty offices, five learning environments, an open forum space, and a shared commons for faculty and students.

Michigan State University is constructing the $61 million Bio Engineering Facility in East Lansing. Designed to support interdisciplinary biomedical research, the 130,000-sf building will provide open laboratories and offices for faculty from the colleges of Engineering, Human Medicine, and Natural Science. The sustainably designed facility will be physically connected to the existing Clinical Center C-Wing and Life Sciences B-Wing with proximity to the Radiology Building. Ground was broken on the project in June of 2013 with occupancy expected in fall of 2015.

The University of Missouri-St. Louis will begin construction in early 2015 on the $17 million Patient Care Center. The 48,000-sf facility will provide individual and group learning areas for the colleges of Optometry and Nursing and 35,000 sf of clinical space for eye and primary care. Designed by HOK, the project features student-faculty consultation rooms located within each of the four clinical areas. Occupancy is expected in summer of 2016.

Dalhousie University opened the Zebrafish Core Facility in October of 2014 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Located in the Life Sciences Research Institute, the $1.8 million laboratory will support interdisciplinary biomedical research on cancer, neuroscience, and genetics. Housing up to 75,000 adult fish, the 4,000-sf facility features a molecular lab and specialized rooms for cell and tissue studies.

The Baylor Research and Innovation Collaborative (BRIC) is a multidiscipline research and academic facility, housed inside a renovated 304,000-sf tire manufacturing plant, designed to break down or inhibit silos from forming, while being friendly to commercialization, industry, workforce development, and international collaboration.

The University of North Dakota broke ground in October of 2014 on a 66,000-sf aerospace research and teaching facility in Grand Forks, N.D. The $26 million Robin Hall will provide classrooms, laboratories, simulation bays, offices, and student space for the John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences, as well as secure areas for the Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Research, Training and Education Center. Completion is expected in May of 2016. The facility will be constructed, owned, and managed by the UND Aerospace Foundation.

The University of Liverpool will begin construction in November of 2014 on the Materials Innovation Factory in the United Kingdom. Developed in partnership with Unilever, the four-story, 125,000-sf building will provide materials science research labs with a total of 126 fume hoods. The project team includes architect Fairhursts Design Group, civil and structural engineer Curtins, building services engineer White Young Green, and cost consultant Turner & Townsend.

The University of Miami opened the $50 million Marine Technology and Life Sciences Seawater Complex in October of 2014 in Virginia Key, Fla. Located on the campus of the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, the facility will support advanced research on marine life, climate change, coral reefs, and hurricanes. The 86,000-sf project is supplied with 1,000 gallons of seawater per minute and features a 3D hurricane testing lab with a 38,000-gallon tank.

The new building housing George Washington University's Milken Institute School of Public Health provides the first real home for the school, which was established in 1997. It brings together seven departments occupying space in various university buildings and several leased locations in and around GW’s Foggy Bottom campus. Just blocks from the White House, the school draws heavily upon its location to bring the real-world perspective of legislators, practitioners, and researchers to public health education.

Binghamton University dedicated the $30 million Center of Excellence in Small Scale Systems Integration and Packaging (S3IP) in October of 2014. Providing laboratories, offices, and a symposium hall, the 114,000-sf facility will support collaborative research with industry partners on energy technologies, flexible electronics, and packaging. The sustainably designed center is part of Binghamton's Innovative Technologies Complex and features a heat recovery system, a highly efficient building envelope, and abundant natural lighting.

Ground was broken on the USC Michelson Center for Convergent Bioscience in October of 2014. The 190,000-sf facility will provide the University of Southern California with collaborative labs and offices for up to 30 scientists and engineers engaged in translational research. Representing a partnership between the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, the project will house the Center for Electron Microscopy and Analysis, a nanofabrication facility, and a microscopy imaging technology suite.

The State University of New York at Fredonia dedicated its $60 million Science Center in October of 2014. The three-story, 92,000-sf facility provides flexible teaching spaces, laboratories, and faculty offices to support STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) education. Designed to promote interaction and collaboration, the interdisciplinary project consolidates the university's science programs in a single location. Ground was broken on the center in September of 2011.

The University of Arizona broke ground in October of 2014 on the $136 million Biosciences Partnership Building. Located on the Phoenix Biomedical Campus, the 10-story, 245,000-sf facility was designed by CO Architects and Ayers Saint Gross to support collaborative biomedical research. Providing wet and dry labs as well as computational space, the transdisciplinary project is being built by DPR and Sundt Construction. Completion is expected in early 2017.