Higher Education

University of Oklahoma's Stephenson Life Sciences Research Center (SLSRC) is improving research productivity and attracting millions in grant funding thanks to a focus on transparency, flexible floor plans, and strategic multidisciplinary collaboration. The new academic research facility features an extensive use of interior glass, flexible modular furniture, and shared imaging resources, including NMR and x-ray crystallography equipment.

Brigham Young University is constructing the 265,000-sf Life Sciences Building in Provo, Utah. The five-story research and instructional facility will provide 70 faculty offices, 16 teaching labs, four conference rooms, and three auditoriums. The general contractor for the project is Okland Construction. Ground was broken on the project in late 2011 and occupancy is expected in late 2014.

The University of Sydney is building the $385 million Charles Perkins Centre on its Camperdown campus. Housing 950 researchers and 1,455 undergraduates, the 502,680-sf biomedical teaching and research facility will provide five 60-seat dry labs and two wet teaching labs, one with seating for 12 and the other able to accommodate 240 occupants. Supporting research on conditions such as heart disease, obesity, and diabetes, the multidisciplinary project will include a flow cytometry suite, clinical research space, a biobank, and advanced imaging technologies.

Grand Valley State University broke ground on the $55 million Science Laboratory Building in Allendale, Mich., in April of 2013. Construction will begin in July on the 155,000-sf facility, which will provide nine classrooms, 14 research labs, 15 teaching labs, 160 faculty offices, and a greenhouse. The four-story building will also house eight conference rooms, eight student study spaces, and offices for graduate students.

Spurred into action by a broken autoclave, Rush University Medical Center gutted and rebuilt its 30-plus-year-old BSL-3 lab and its anteroom, while converting existing adjacent offices into a dedicated mechanical room. The primary goals with the renovation were to bring the lab up to contemporary BSL-3 standards and to isolate its infrastructure and utilities from the rest of the Jelke Building, a mixed-use lab and patient-care building.

The University of Hawai'i opened the new UH Cancer Center in April of 2013 in Kaka’ako. The five-story, 150,000-sf facility was designed by Shimokawa Nakamura of Honolulu and ZGF Architects of Los Angeles. Other project team members included Jacobs Engineering as laboratory design consultant with Kobayashi Group as general contractor and project manager. The collaborative facility provides advanced laboratories for biomedical research.

Rutgers University will break ground in mid-2013 on the $55 million Institute for Food, Nutrition and Health. The three-story, 80,000-sf facility will house 25 principal investigators involved in basic research with a focus on genomics and molecular nutrition. The interdisciplinary building will provide 37,198 sf of research, 825 sf of administration, and 28,263 sf of community space. The remaining 13,425 sf is ocuppied by mechanical systems and circulation. The $34 million construction contract was awarded to Joseph A.

The Gates Vascular Institute (GVI) transforms the concept of translational collaboration, uniting not only a private health entity with a public institution, but also patients, physicians, researchers, educators, industry, and government within a state-of-the-art vertical campus. The building brings together, through a unique public/private partnership, the heart, vascular, and emergency facilities of Kaleida Health; the Clinical Translational Research Center (CTRC) of the University at Buffalo (UB); and a biosciences incubator and The Jacobs Institute of Neurology, both UB affiliates.

The University at Buffalo will break ground in September of 2013 on the $375 million School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. Designed by HOK to foster interaction and collaboration, the seven-story, 500,000-sf project will be integrated with UB's academic medical center to promote a synthesis of instruction, research, and treatment. The facility comprises two L-shaped structures linked to create a six-story glass atrium. The ground floor includes a transit hub.

Auckland University of Technology opened the $98 million Sir Paul Reeves building in March of 2012. Designed by Jasmax, the 12-story, 215,000-sf academic facility provides instructional space for art, design, engineering, computing, mathematics, and creative technologies. The project houses AUT's School of Communications and features flexible lecture halls, television and performance studios, a media center, a broadcasting suite, and informal study areas.

The 183,000-sf Structural and Materials Engineering Building at UCSD houses several engineering departments, including Structural Engineering and NanoEngineering, as well as the Department of Visual Arts. Inspired by Bauhaus principles, the building's design fosters interaction between arts and engineering disciplines through gathering spaces, communal circulation, and shared computer and research laboratories. Offices are grouped around a variety of open meeting spaces to enhance collaboration while maintaining privacy.

Creating an "agile workplace"—by determining the overall business goals of an organization, making an in-depth appraisal of how employees work, and creating an efficient, cost-effective workspace that satisfies various work requirements—can save money in the long run by providing a satisfying workplace designed around employee's work activities.

High Point University is planning to build a $60 million medical education building in High Point, N.C. The 170,000-sf facility will provide technology-rich classrooms, teaching laboratories, and offices for the School of Health Sciences and the School of Pharmacy. Construction will begin in 2015 with occupancy expected in late 2016. 

The University of Wisconsin is planning to build a $75 million science building on its Stevens Point campus. The four-story, 170,000-sf facility will provide teaching and research space for biology and chemistry. Construction is expected to begin in 2015 and reach completion in 2017. LEED Gold sustainable design certification will be sought for the project.

New technologies and approaches are making the renovation of academic science facilities a more financially attractive option for institutions facing limited budgets, constrained real estate, and aging buildings with prominent historic legacies. Recent data suggests that, depending on the type of technology applied, institutions can achieve significant savings by renovating existing buildings to meet the needs of modern science as opposed to demolishing and building new.