Higher Education

Rutgers University broke ground in June of 2014 on the $115 million Chemistry and Chemical Biology Building. Designed by Flad Architects, the four-story, 145,000-sf facility is sited on the Busch campus in Piscataway, N.J., and will support multidisciplinary collaboration with integrated teaching, research, and support space. Core facilities will include a microscopy suite, a class 100 chemistry cleanroom, and labs for optical spectroscopy, NMR spectroscopy, and X-ray crystallography.

The Center for Sustainable Landscapes (CSL), Phase III of a major expansion to Pittsburgh’s Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens, is on course to be the first building in the world awarded certification as both LEED Platinum and a Four-Stars Sustainable Site (SITES), both of which were obtained in 2013, as well as Living Building Certification. It was certified as a Net-Zero Energy Building in 2014.

Alder Hey Children’s Hospital will begin construction in summer of 2014 on a $40 million research and teaching building in Liverpool, U.K. Designed by Hopkins Architects, the 75,000-sf, three-story project will provide research and teaching labs, offices, meeting rooms, lecture halls, breakout spaces, and a library. Comprising two wings adjoining a curved central atrium, the flexible facility will feature a corridor-free interior to encourage interaction and collaboration.

Central Washington University is building the $64 million Science II facility in Ellensburg, Wash. Ground was broken on the five-story, 120,000-sf project in May of 2014 and completion is expected in spring of 2016. Accommodating the departments of geological sciences and physics as well as programs in math and astronomy, the facility will feature an 80-seat lecture hall and planetarium, an observatory tower, optics and laser labs, an ice core lab, and an acoustic lab with an anechoic chamber.

Bay Path College is building the Center for Graduate Studies in Health Sciences in East Longmeadow, Mass. The $16 million facility will provide classrooms, laboratories, training rooms, faculty offices, conference rooms, and administrative space. Construction began on the two-story, 56,000-sf facility in November of 2013 and completion is expected in early 2015.

Princeton University is building the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment in Princeton, N.J. Designed by Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects of New York as three interconnected structures, the 129,000-gsf interdisciplinary facility will feature a cleanroom, teaching labs, classrooms, offices, a lecture hall, conference rooms, and low-vibration labs for nanotechnology research and imaging. LEED Silver sustainable design certification will be sought for the project, which is slated for completion in 2015.

The 268,000-sf, six-story Health Sciences Education Building (HSEB) incorporates the College of Medicine and Pharmacy from the Arizona School of Medicine with Northern Arizona University’s physician assistant, physical therapy, and occupational therapy programs into the integrated and interdisciplinary Phoenix Biomedical Campus. A 2-million-sf, 28-acre campus master plan includes a recently constructed 20,000-sf underground vivarium, and several research buildings. To the north is a cancer center, which adds a clinical component.

The master plan for Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) in Portland, Ore., offers valuable lessons in how public-private partnership and well-tended relationships with neighboring developments can overcome significant growth constraints. The university found ways to eke out space and funding for new buildings and programs where little seemed to be available.

The University of Rhode Island broke ground on the $68 million Center for Chemical and Forensic Sciences in June of 2014. The five-story, 135,000-sf facility will house teaching labs, research labs, lecture halls, classrooms, offices, an instrumentation suite, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Center of Excellence for Explosives Detection, Mitigation and Response. The project team includes Wilson Architects of Boston and Bacon Construction of East Providence, R.I. Completion is expected in spring of 2016.

Ohio State University is planning a $32 million expansion and renovation of the Veterinary Medical Center in Columbus. The Hospital for Companion Animals will be renovated and a three-story addition will be built to accommodate faculty offices and conference rooms. The 57,000-sf project will include updated clinical, emergency, and surgery facilities.

The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey broke ground in June of 2014 on a $29 million expansion of the Unified Science Center in Galloway Township, N.J. Designed to support STEM programs, the 54,000-sf addition will provide 32 labs, seven classrooms, 40 faculty offices, computer labs, a vivarium, and a greenhouse. The sustainably designed project will feature highly efficient building systems and is expected to open in spring of 2017.

The 2,200-sf gut renovation for organic chemistry labs at Marywood University’s Center for Natural and Health Sciences Building includes three spaces: a 16-student organic chemistry teaching lab with filtering chemical fume hoods (shown above), an eight-student organic chemistry research lab with conventional ducted hoods, and a dedicated laboratory preparation and support space, also equipped with ducted hoods.

Tufts University received permission from the Boston Public Health Commission in June of 2014 to begin operating the Arnold 8 Biosafety Laboratory. Supporting tuberculosis research, the BSL-3 facility is located in the Tufts School of Medicine’s Biomedical Research and Public Health Building. Development of the 1,700-sf lab began in spring of 2012 with construction commencing in February of 2013. The project architect was Shawmut Design & Construction.

The University of Tampere began construction in June of 2014 on a $64 million medical teaching and research building in Finland. The 273,400-sf project is being built by NCC Construction and will provide instructional space, teaching and research labs, and administrative offices. Completion is expected in May of 2016.

Auburn University opened the Magnet Lab in May of 2014 in Auburn, Ala. Housed in the Department of Physics, the facility provides the College of Science and Mathematics with a 6,000-pound superconducting magnet for plasma physics research. Creation of the laboratory was supported by a National Science Foundation Major Research Instrumentation award in the amount of $2.1 million, which includes a 30 percent cost-sharing by Auburn University.