Higher Education

Tulane University opened the Donna and Paul Flower Hall for Research and Innovation in December of 2012 in New Orleans. Designed by Woodward Design + Build, the four-story, 24,000-sf facility includes 10,000 sf of research space housing 13 interdisciplinary laboratories. The project includes two floors of shell space, the completion of which is not included in the $7.4 million construction cost of the building. The facility will support research in energy, environmental science, gene therapy, and vaccine delivery.

The University of Manchester began building the new Manchester Cancer Research Centre in December of 2012. The $46 million facility will provide advanced laboratories for the development of personalized cancer therapies. The project is created in partnership with Cancer Research UK and The Christie NHS Foundation Trust. The general contractor is Capita Symonds. Occupancy is expected in summer of 2014.

Mount Sinai Medical Center opened the $440 million Leon and Norma Hess Center for Science and Medicine in New York in December of 2012. Outpatient clinics are located on two floors of the 12-story facility with six floors dedicated to research laboratories. The 500,000-sf  Hess Center includes two basement levels housing advanced imaging technologies including a combined MRI/PET, a computed tomography scanner, and a 7 Tesla MRI.

The University of Tennessee completed a $20.9 million facility for the College of Veterinary Medicine in Knoxville in December of 2012. The renovated and expanded Equine and Farm Animal Hospital features surgical suites, a large animal MRI, and an underwater treadmill for equine therapy. The facility also provides isolation stalls with individual air systems and separate exterior doors to prevent exposure. The project comprises 65,000 sf of new construction and 18,700 sf of renovated space. Occupancy will occur in phases in early 2013.

In the on-going drive to advance campus-wide environmental stewardship, the University of Washington's new Molecular Engineering and Sciences Building (MolES) incorporates several unusual strategies for energy savings and sustainability. A 40 percent reduction in the number of air changes lightens the load on the mechanical systems that serve technically challenging laboratories, while operable office windows, phase change material (PCM), and solar chimneys are part of a more "organic" approach to heating and cooling.

The University of Arizona will begin construction in December of 2012 on a $100 million outpatient cancer center located on the Phoenix Biomedical Campus. As a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center, the five-story, 220,000-sf building will provide chemotherapy, infusion, radiation oncology, and diagnostic imaging. St.

The University of Michigan is planning to renovate 8,900 sf in Building 22 in the North Campus Research Complex to house the Electron Microbeam Analysis Laboratory. Consolidating microscopy resources currently dispersed in two separate locations, the $4.38 project will accommodate 12 microscopes for the analysis of materials on an atomic level.  

The University of Rochester is transforming the traditional approach to teaching experimental chemistry with a recent fast-track remodel of 40-year-old undergraduate instructional labs in Hutchison Hall. The new ultra-green $1.5 million facility—which went from conception to completion in six months—is designed to maximize safety and learning with an unprecedented focus on collaborative space and state-of-the art multimedia capabilities.

The University of Florida (UF) opened the $53 million Research and Academic Center at Lake Nona in Orlando in October of 2012. Housing biomedical research laboratories and instructional space for the College of Pharmacy and the College of Medicine, the 106,000-sf facility also houses the UF Clinical and Translational Science Institute, the Center for Pharmacometrics and Systems Pharmacology, the Institute of Therapeutic Innovation, and the Institute on Aging. Ground was broken on the project in October of 2010.

The University of Nebraska is planning to build a $370 million cancer research facility in Omaha. The project will include a hospital tower, inpatient and outpatient clinics, and biomedical research labs. Construction is expected to begin in November of 2013 and reach completion in April of 2016. 

The New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology is planning to build the 83,000-sf Bureau of Geology Building in Socorro. Designed by Van Gilbert, the three-story facility will include flexible, double-loaded labs, office space, and a museum. The laboratory design consultant for the project is RFD (Research Facilities Design). 

Tradeline asked 120 individuals representing 98 research organizations to prioritize their areas of focus for 2013 and to make open-ended comments regarding those priorities. The priorities identified in this survey will be the focus of Tradeline's upcoming conference: The 2013 International Conference on Biocontainment Facilities on March 18-19, 2013, in San Diego.

The respondents’ overall priorities are:

1. Pressure and airflow control

2. Maintenance/operations requirements and processes

3. People, teams, and competency

Ri.Med is planning to build the $269 million Biomedical Research and Biotechnology Center (BRBC) near Palermo, Italy. The 334,000-sf translational research facility will be a global hub for biomedical R&D and will be managed by the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Designed by HOK as a research village, the center will provide modular, flexible laboratory space divided into four wings on three floors.

The Pennsylvania State University will begin construction in January of 2013 on the $58.5 million Health and Human Development Building in University Park. Designed by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, the project includes construction of a 77,800-sf facility and renovation of 35,000 sf in the existing Henderson Building South. The ground level will have 31 research offices and four labs and observation rooms for the Department of Human Development and Family Studies (HDFS), along with a 90-seat general classroom.

Georgia Health Sciences University broke ground on the $76.5 million J. Harold Harrison M.D. Education Commons in November of 2012. Designed by HOK, the 172,000-sf facility will provide a 26,620-sf simulation lab, classrooms, group study spaces, and offices for the Medical College of Georgia and the College of Dental Medicine. The general contractor for the project is Skanska USA Building and the value of the construction contract is $62 million. LEED certification will be sought for the facility.