Higher Education

The Performance Guaranteed Facility (PGF) model is a relatively new type of public/private partnership that allows the occupants to own a building the moment construction begins, while private-sector partners commit to its design, construction, financing, and ongoing maintenance, including future rehabilitation. The model goes by different names, but the concept involves an interactive partnership designed to benefit all parties for the long term.

Russell Hall, a 1974 two-story, masonry-construction facility, underwent an extensive first-floor renovation with a complete overhaul of its mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems to accommodate the medical education classrooms of a new Health Sciences Campus. In its new role, the former Navy Supply Corps School classroom building serves two primary occupants: the University of Georgia's College of Public Health and the Georgia Regents University/University of Georgia Medical Partnership.

The University of Wyoming broke ground in March of 2013 on the Michael B. Enzi STEM Facility in Laramie. The 100,000-sf facility will provide 32 teaching labs for chemistry, biology, organic chemistry, physics, mathematics, and computer science. The building will also include eight prep rooms, eight offices, and an atmospheric sciences lab to support collaborative research with the NCAR-Wyoming Supercomputing Center in Cheyenne. Completion is expected in spring of 2015.

Saint Vincent College opened the $39 million Sis and Herman Dupré Science Pavilion in March of 2013 in Latrobe, Pa. Housing the Herbert W. Boyer School of Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Computing, the 102,000-gsf facility provides classrooms, lecture halls, instrumentation suites, offices, conference rooms, and labs for chemistry, biology, physics, and life sciences. The center was designed by Maclachlan, Cornelius & Filoni with RFD (Research Facilities Design) as laboratory design consultant.

Louisiana State University opened the John Franks Equine and Large Animal Isolation Unit in Baton Rouge in March of 2013. Located at the school's Veterinary Teaching Hospital, the 11,000-sf facility provides eight stalls with separate patient care areas and advanced audiovisual monitoring systems. The building also includes exam rooms, procedural space, a diagnostic imaging suite, foaling stalls, and stalls with sling and hoist capabilities. The facility features a robust ventilation system for the containment of airborne diseases.

The University of Edinburgh began building the National Avian Research Facility in early 2013. The $22 million research laboratory represents a partnership of the Roslin Institute of the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies and The Pirbright Institute. The facility will include specific-pathogen-free (SPF) areas for research with genetically modified poultry. Completion is expected in late 2014.

When Monmouth College's Center for Science and Business (CSB) opens in the fall, it will be noteworthy, in part, for its unconventional combination of academic departments. The three-story, 138,000-sf facility integrates classrooms and offices for faculty in not only chemistry, physics, biology, and psychology, but also business, accounting, and mathematics.

Dordt College is planning to build an interdisciplinary science complex in Sioux Center, Iowa. The first $11 million phase includes an engineering wing with high bay space and labs for materials science, thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, electronics, and solar energy research. A new medical skills lab and a two-story addition providing technology-rich classrooms, faculty offices, computer labs, and informal learning spaces will also be constructed.

Dixie State University dedicated the Edward H. and Idonna E. Snow Science Center in March of 2013 in St. George, Utah. Designed by CRSA Architecture and built by Westland Construction, the two-story science complex provides 10,000 sf of lab space, classrooms, and an atrium. Supporting the departments of chemistry, geology, and geography, the facility includes 11 fume hoods, a geology lab, an imaging suite, and labs for organic, analytical, and general chemistry.

Queen’s University began building the $51 million Centre for Experimental Medicine in March of 2013 in Belfast. Located in the Centre for Cancer Research and Cell Biology on the Institute of Health Sciences campus, the four-story, 97,000-sf facility will provide advanced laboratories for biomedical research with a focus on diabetes, eye disease, and genetic illnesses.

The University of Texas Pan American is planning to build a $96 million science facility in Edinburg, Texas. The 162,600-sf annex will accommodate programs in biology, chemistry, engineering, physics, geology, mathematics, health sciences, technology, and environmental studies. The project will provide two BSL-3 labs and five specialized research suites for imaging, tissue culture, instrumentation, radioisotopes, and an herbarium.

Tufts University began building the Arnold 8 Biosafety Laboratory in February of 2013. Located in an existing building on the School of Medicine campus in Boston, the BSL-3 facility will support research on tuberculosis. The laboratory is being built by Shawmut Design & Construction.

National Cheng Kung University has expanded its Laboratory Animal Center (LAC) at the College of Medicine with the addition of four small-animal research labs. The completed 27,232-sf LAC was inaugurated in February of 2013. National Cheng Kung University is located in Tainan, Taiwan.

The University of Massachusetts Medical School opened the $400 million Albert Sherman Center in Worcester in February of 2013. Designed by Architectural Resources Cambridge, the 11-story, 512,000-sf interdisciplinary facility provides research labs, six learning centers, conference rooms, and a 350-seat auditorium. The Sherman Center also houses the Advanced Therapeutics Cluster, including the RNA Therapeutics Institute, the Gene Therapy Center, and the Center for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine.

The University of Southern California is building the $50 million Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism in Los Angeles. Designed by Harley Ellis Devereaux, the 88,000-sf facility will feature a digital media tower and a four-story atrium. Occupancy is expected in fall of 2013.