Higher Education

The University of Georgia is building the $97.7 million Veterinary Medical Learning Center (VLMC) in Athens, Ga. Providing five buildings and approximately 300,000 sf for the College of Veterinary Medicine, the campus will include an academic building, a teaching hospital, a covered arena, a large animal isolation barn, and a theriogenology and farm field services building. Ground was broken on the project in November of 2012 and construction began in March of 2013. Completion is expected in 2015.

The University of Tennessee opened the $23 million John D. Tickle Engineering Building in Knoxville in August of 2013. The five-story, 110,000-sf facility houses the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering. Designed by Grieve Associates Architects, the building features a high bay research area, a two-story water tank and cement pit for erosion testing, and two 10-ton cranes for the movement of structures and workways.

City University of New York has attained LEED Platinum sustainable design certification for Lehman College Science Hall. The $70 million facility was designed by architectural firm Perkins+Will and built by the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY). Construction was led by Gilbane Building Company and the project team included general contractor Calcedo Construction, B&G Electric, Aspro Plumbing, and BP Mechanical.

Glendale Community College will break ground in fall of 2013 on a 90,000-sf academic building in Glendale, Calif. A $34.6 million contract has been awarded to Mallcraft to build the three-story facility, which will provide classrooms and computer labs, as well as housing space for programs in culinary arts, anthropology, and writing. The total project cost is estimated at $40 million. LEED Silver sustainable design certification will be sought for the facility, which is slated for occupancy in late 2015.

The University of Hong Kong Faculty of Medicine is building the $426 million Gleneagles Hospital in Wong Chuk Hang. The 503,000-sf facility will provide comprehensive clinical care including oncology, cardiology, neurosurgery, ophthalmology, and pediatrics. The 500-bed hospital will also house operating rooms, outpatient care clinics, imaging suites, and a cardiovascular laboratory. Completion is expected in late 2016 with occupancy in 2017.

Marian University opened the $55 million Michael A. Evans Center for Health Sciences in August of 2013 in Indianapolis. Housing the College of Osteopathic Medicine and the School of Nursing, the facility supports the implementation of team-based curriculum, experiential learning, and interprofessional education.

The University of North Carolina Hospital is using Building Information Modeling (BIM) to manage construction of its $156 million campus in Hillsborough. Designed by ZGF Architects, the project includes a 240,000-sf patient tower, a 14,000-sf central plant, and a three-story medical office building. Partnering with construction manager Skanska USA, UNC Hospital used BIM to plan the location of underground utilities, including integrating multiple building systems with existing rock formations.

Regents Hall Science Center, the first phase of Georgetown University’s Science Facilities Master Plan, integrates all physics, chemistry, and biology research labs on three connected floors. The new facility also houses the Institute for Soft Matter Synthesis and Metrology, funded in part through a $6.9 million grant from the National Institutes of Standards and Technology. The institute conducts research into materials that are neither liquids nor solids, such as liquid crystals, gels, colloids, polymers, and foams.

The University of Florida celebrated the opening of the $45 million Clinical and Translational Science Building in Gainesville in August of 2013. The collaborative 120,000-sf project houses the 40,000-sf UF Institute on Aging, the Clinical and Translational Research Institute, conference rooms, training facilities, research laboratories, and clinical space. LEED Platinum sustainable design certification will be sought for the facility.

Texas A&M University is building an 11,000-sf research aviary for the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences. Located in College Station, the facility will include a biocontainment laboratory, a bird hospital, quarantine suites, two isolation rooms, classrooms, and administrative offices. Completion is expected in May of 2014.

Queensland Children's Hospital is building the $125 million Academic and Research Facility (A&RF) in Brisbane. Created in partnership with the University of Queensland, Queensland University of Technology, and the Translational Research Institute, the ten-story project will provide five floors of wet and dry labs for advanced biomedical research. The remaining levels will house pathology services, retail, and parking. While the facility will house more than 450 researchers, the design allows for expansion.

Hudson Valley Community College completed construction on its $40 million Science Center in August of 2013 in Troy, N.Y. The three-story, 100,000-sf facility provides two lecture halls, nine classrooms, faculty offices, a greenhouse, and 25 labs for biology, chemistry, and physics. General contractor U.W. Marx of Troy began construction on the center in October of 2011. Mosaic Associates of East Greenbush and Payette of Boston designed the building. LEED sustainable design certification will be sought for the project.

Suffolk University is planning to build a $49 million academic building in Boston. The 10-story, 110,000-sf facility will provide classrooms, teaching labs, faculty offices, an art gallery, and a cafeteria. The project team includes architect NBBJ and general contractor Suffolk Construction. Lean construction methodology will be employed in the delivery of the project, as well as Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) technologies. Occupancy is expected in July of 2015.

The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs (UCCS) is building the $18.5 million Lane Center for Academic Health Sciences. The 54,000-sf facility will provide instructional space for the College of Medicine as well as housing the Trauma Health and Hazards Center, the Lane Family Senior Health Center, the Gerontology Center, the Aging Center, and clinical space for the Beth-El College of Nursing and Health Sciences. Completion is expected in January of 2014. The project is part of the planned eight-building, 575,000-sf National Sports, Art and Wellness Village.

Auburn University is building the Wilford and Kate Bailey Small Animal Teaching Hospital in Auburn, Ala. The 208,000-sf facility features designated units for each type of hospital service, each including an exam room, a treatment room, and a student seminar room. The hospital will also house a sterile surgical suite, a critical care unit, diagnostic imaging, radiology, and clinical pathology. Construction began in spring of 2012 and completion is expected in fall of 2014.