Higher Education

Research space at academic institutions increased 3.5 percent from fiscal year 2009 to 2011, one of the lowest two-year growth rates since a peak in 2001-03, according to the National Science Foundation's (NSF) most recent Survey of Science and Engineering Research Facilities. In that time period—the most recent data the NSF has—institutions planned fewer projects, and fewer projects came to fruition, an indicator that this "slow growth" trend will continue. The main growth area continued to be the biological and biomedical sciences.

Wake Forest University will complete a $53.5 million facility for the School of Business in the summer of 2013. Designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects, the three-story, 120,000-sf Farrell Hall will provide 18 technology-rich, flexible classrooms; an information commons; integrated faculty office clusters; and a 375-seat auditoium. The collaborative facility was designed to promote student-faculty engagement and features 8,000 sf of flexible interaction space. Ground was broken on the project in April of 2011.

Keyano College is building the $22 million Oilsands Power & Process Engineering Lab in Fort McMurray, Alberta. The 16,469-sf facility will feature a fully functional cogeneration plant with steam turbine generators, boilers, and condensers, as well as classrooms, mechanical shops, and support offices. The project team includes architectural firm Dialog, general contractor PCL Construction, and engineering consultant WorleyParsons.

University Hospital Aintree began construction in May of 2013 on a $63 million expansion of the Walton Centre NHS Foundation Trust campus in Liverpool. The 25,000-sf Project Arizona building will incorporate Passivhaus sustainable design principles to deliver a highly insulated facility for maximum energy efficiency. The expansion will provide inpatient and outpatient care facilities, a neuro-rehabilitation center, and a clinical research facility.

Coppin State University broke ground on the $80 million Science and Technology Center in Baltimore in May of 2013. The four-story, 150,333-sf facility will feature collaborative teaching and research labs, classrooms, a 100-seat lecture hall, and a computing suite.

Loyola Marymount University broke ground on a $110 million life sciences building in Los Angeles in May of 2013. Supporting programs in biology, chemistry, and natural sciences, the 103,500-sf interdisciplinary facility will provide 16,000 sf of research space, 34 teaching labs, classrooms, faculty offices, study lounges, and a 292-seat auditorium.  The project was designed by CO Architects with Research Facilities Design (RFD) as laboratory design consultant.

The Carbon Neutral Energy Solutions (C-NES) Laboratory at the Georgia Institute of Technology integrates three distinct types of space to create a research environment that offers optimal flexibility. The 42,000-sf building is designed to facilitate research programs of today and tomorrow by featuring not only labs and offices, but also high-bay spaces capable of housing large or heavy pieces of equipment and mid-bay spaces where the equipment is usually less than 10 feet tall.

The three-story, 42,000-gsf integrated teaching and research facility includes state-of-the-art laboratories—supporting biochemistry, environmental science and engineering, computer engineering, and acoustical engineering—as well as general-use classrooms. The central organizing atrium with its popular Science Café is both a thoroughfare and destination. Labs and classrooms open off the atrium, with progressively quieter zones for study and faculty office suites extending away from the atrium.

Royal Liverpool University Hospital is planning to construct a $511 million replacement facility in the United Kingdom. The public-private partnership project will be built by Carillion. Construction will begin in early 2014 with completion expected in 2017. Carillion will also provide support services for the sustainably designed hospital, which will accommodate 646 inpatient beds, a 40-bed critical care unit, 18 surgical suites, and an expanded emergency department. 

La Trobe University opened the $97 million Institute for Molecular Science in Melbourne in spring of 2013. Providing teaching and research facilities for biotechnology, nanotechnology, and molecular science, the six-story, 118,400-sf project houses 34 research and support laboratories, instructional space, academic offices, and a lecture hall. The facility was designed by Lyons Architects and built by Watpac Construction. Ground was broken on the project in February of 2011 and the facility was dedicated in late February of 2013.

Montclair State University is planning to build the $55 million Center for Environmental and Life Sciences in Montclair, N.J. 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. Supporting programs including pharmaceutical biochemistry, sustainability science, and medicinal chemistry, the center will also provide teaching and research space for biology, computing, and mathematics.

St. Norbert College broke ground on the $39.2 million Gehl-Mulva Science Center in May of 2013 in De Pere, Wis. Created in partnership with the Medical College of Wisconsin, the 150,000-sf facility will provide 36 teaching and research labs, classrooms, informal collaboration spaces, small-group workrooms, and a greenhouse. The project includes renovation of the existing Minahan Science Hall and construction of a 57,800-sf addition.

The University of Massachusetts, Suffolk Construction Company, and Architectural Resources Cambridge approached the UMass Medical School's Albert Sherman Center with three major goals in mind: to visualize the building using 3-D Virtual Design and Construction, manage construction through comprehensive Building Information Modeling, and collect that data in a usable format to better maintain and operate the building in the future.

Washington State University will break ground in August of 2013 on the $23 million Wine Science Center on the Tri-Cities campus in Richland. Designed by ALSC Architects of Spokane, the 39,300-sf research and teaching facility will provide laboratories, conference rooms, a wine library, and a winery that will function as a living laboratory for viticulture science. The general contractor for the design-build project is Lydig Construction. Completion is expected in July of 2014.

Stanford Hospital broke ground in May of 2013 on an 824,000-sf replacement facility in Palo Alto. Designed by Rafael Viñoly Architects in association with Lee, Burkhart, Liu, the patient-centered hospital will provide 17 operating rooms, advanced imaging suites, an emergency department, a Level One trauma center, and 368 private inpatient rooms. The sustainably designed facility will feature abundant natural light and five healing gardens. Completion is expected in 2017 with occupancy in early 2018.