Higher Education

The Mars Center for Science and Technology, Wheaton College’s largest-ever building project, creates a cornerstone of the College’s interdisciplinary curriculum called “Connections,” providing enhanced facilities for scientific research and study, as well as scholarly connections across the disciplines, where scientists and humanists co-teach courses to highlight the unique contributions of each discipline. The building, certified LEED Gold, also fulfills Wheaton’s commitment to sustainability.

The University of Kentucky broke ground in October of 2013 on a $65 million expansion and renovation of the Gatton College of Business and Economics in Lexington. The completed 210,000-sf facility will provide a 500-seat auditorium, a financial trading simulation center, a behavioral research lab, 20 classrooms, and 40 breakout rooms. The project will increase the size of the existing College of Business building by 40 percent.

The $100 million MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper opened in October of 2013 in Camden, N.J. The four-story, 103,050-sf comprehensive cancer facility represents a partnership of the Cooper University Health Care and University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Supporting multidisciplinary, team-based patient care, the project provides examination and procedure rooms, conference areas, a healing garden, and instructional and administrative space for the School of Radiation Therapy.

Rowan University broke ground in October of 2013 on a $71 million addition to the College of Engineering in Glassboro, N.J. The three-story, 90,500-sf building is slated for completion in 2017.

Drexel University opened the $92 million LeBow Hall in Philadelphia in October of 2013. Housing the LeBow College of Business, the 12-story, 177,500-sf facility features a five-story atrium, a 300-seat auditorium, a 100-seat lecture hall, and a financial trading lab. The building also provides 17 classrooms, faculty offices, student lounges, a seminar room, and a behavioral studies lab. The facility was designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects of New York and Voith & MacTavish Architects of Philadelphia.

The University of Maryland School of Medicine broke ground in September of 2013 on the $305.4 million Health Sciences Facility III in Baltimore. The 10-story, 428,970-sf translational research building will provide advanced biomedical laboratories for the study of genomics, cardiovascular science, cancer, regenerative medicine, and neurology. The project team includes architectural firms HOK and Design Collective Inc. with Barton Malow Company as construction manager. Completion is expected in December of 2017.
 

The Measurement, Materials & Sustainable Environment Center (M2SEC) at the University of Kansas School of Engineering is a 46,735-sf interdisciplinary engineering research facility focused on energy/transportation, global change, composite materials/technology, and sustainable building practices. Funded in part by a $12.3 million National Institute of Standards and Technology grant, the flexible research environments include: 

Montclair State University broke ground on the $55 million Center for Environmental and Life Sciences in September of 2013. Expanding the University's science infrastructure by 50 percent, the 107,500-gsf facility will provide seven interdisciplinary group research suites, six core labs, five office areas, classrooms, seminar rooms, a microscopy suite, and a 150-seat lecture hall.

Georgia Tech’s Carbon-Neutral Energy Solutions (C-NES) building sets a new standard for sustainable design for buildings of its type by optimizing passive energy technologies, reducing energy demand, and maximizing the use of renewable energy: A prototype living, learning laboratory that offers lessons for future net-zero attempts. Net-zero energy defies the historical reality that laboratories can consume 10 times the energy of a typical office building, and one six-foot fume hood consumes as much energy annually as a 2,500-sf home.

The University of Massachusetts Medical School is initiating an energy retrofit of the Lazare Medical Research Facility in Worcester. Airside solutions provider Aircuity will install demand control ventilation (DCV) systems on a total of nine floors, including eight floors of laboratory space and a vivarium level, to provide significant cost savings and optimal indoor air quality. The retrofit is expected to reach completion in spring of 2014.

The University of Delaware will officially open the Interdisciplinary Science & Engineering (ISE) Laboratory in Newark in October of 2013. Designed by Ayers/Saint/Gross Architects, the four-story, 194,000-gsf facility provides eight general instruction classrooms and four problem-based instructional areas with adjoining labs to support interactive learning. The research wing features a 10,000-sf nanofabrication facility, a synthesis lab, an advanced materials characterization lab, and an imaging and microscopy suite.

Richard Stockton College opened the $39.5 million United Sciences Center in September of 2013 in Galloway Township, N.J. The 66,350-sf facility provides technology-rich laboratories, classrooms, lecture halls, conference rooms, and computer labs. The sustainably designed building utilizes Richard Stockton College's existing geothermal heating and cooling system. The project team included EYP Architecture and Engineering, construction manager Bovis Lend Lease, and general contractor Dobco Group.

Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) is proving that extensive planning and looking beyond typical short-term measures can net significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, as well as cost savings, even in high-powered lab facilities. In only the third year of a 17-year project, CUMC has realized a 4 percent drop in greenhouse gasses, and a 15 percent drop in utility costs.

A 168,300-sf addition and 43,000-sf renovation to the Marshall Conant Science Center allows Bridgewater State University to consolidate biology, chemistry, earth science, geography, physics, math, and computer science departments under one roof to accommodate the 10-fold increase in full-time enrollment since the center was built in 1964. The project transforms an outdated building into a state-of-the-art science facility that revitalizes the heart of the main campus by improving the campus space outside the building and fundamentally changing the way science is studied within.

The National University of Ireland, Galway has begun construction on the $27 million Clinical Research Facility and Translational Research Facility (CRF-TRF). The four-story, 57,000-gsf project is located on the grounds of University Hospital Galway to support collaborative research and patient care. The ground and first floors will house the Health Research Board (HRB) Clinical Research Facility which will include an area for the study of regenerative medicine.