Higher Education

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.

Bristol Community College broke ground on the $27 million Sbrega Health and Science Building in May of 2014 in Fall River, Mass. Designed by Sasaki Associates, the 46,000-sf collaborative facility will accommodate programs in biology, biotechnology, chemistry, clinical laboratory science, dental hygiene, environmental science, medical technology, microbiology, and nursing. The building will include classrooms, teaching labs, offices, and an atrium. The construction manager for the project is BOND.

The University of Buffalo's John & Judith Kapoor Hall, the former Acheson Hall, was completely gutted and renovated, including interior walls and HVAC systems, to bring the building and its technologies into the 21^st century for the School of Pharmacy. The 160,000-sf building was originally constructed as a chemistry building in 1959, with additions in 1962 and 1963.

The University of Minnesota is planning an $85 million renovation of the 87-year-old Tate Laboratory of Physics in Minneapolis. The project will provide modern lecture halls and classrooms, instructional labs, faculty offices, collaborative study spaces, conference rooms, and dedicated space for the Fine Theoretical Physics Institute and the Minnesota Institute for Astrophysics. The building will also accommodate teaching and research programs of the School of Earth Sciences.

Arkansas Tech University will begin construction in October of 2014 on a 20,273-sf allied health building on the Ozark campus. Supported by $6 million in revenue bond funding, the two-story facility will provide technology-rich teaching labs and clinical simulation suites as well as faculty and staff offices, three computer labs, and a testing center. Completion is expected in November of 2015 with occupancy in spring of 2016.

The University of Manitoba is partnering with Magellan Aerospace to create the Advanced Satellite Integration Facility. The 6,000-sf ASIF will be located at Magellan's Winnipeg site and will be jointly funded and operated with the University. The project will support the simultaneous assembly, integration, and testing of up to three satellite buses, and will also serve as a training center for satellite engineering and production.

The Molecular Engineering and Sciences Building (MolES) at the University of Washington demonstrates that flexible university science facilities can encourage collaboration and accommodate unknown occupants, but be mindful of the need for a variety of dedicated meeting spaces and private areas, and the potential need for a shift in the office/lab culture and the mindsets of the facility’s users.

In the concluding Open Forum/Town Hall session of Tradeline’s Tradeline’s 2013 College and University Science Facilities Conference, moderator Derek Westfall, president of Tradeline, and subject matter commentators Kelly Cramm, senior associate at Henderson Engineers, Inc., and Samir Srouji, principal with Wilson Architects, led an interactive knowledge exchange on questions posed by conference attendees. This is an edited transcript of that exchange.

The University of Montana is planning to build the $32 million Missoula College on East Broadway in Missoula, Mont. The four-story, 105,000-sf building will house 30 disciplines and programs from the former UM College of Technology, now renamed Missoula College. Designed by StudioForma Architects in Bozeman, the project will provide classrooms, teaching labs, conference rooms, faculty offices, a temperature-controlled environment, and a library. Construction will begin in early 2015 with completion expected in mid-2017.