Higher Education

The University of Ottawa opened its $120 million social sciences facility in fall of 2012. Designed by Diamond Schmitt Architects, the 15-story project is an expansion of the existing Vanier Hall and includes 277,700 sf of new construction and 145,000 sf of renovation. The collaborative building provides research space for neuroscience, economics, experimental psychology, management, and public policy. The facility features a 225-seat tiered lecture hall, a 120-seat classroom, a multistory atrium, and a green roof.

Louisiana Tech dedicated the 42,000-sf College of Business in November of 2012 in Ruston. The $12.5 million facility houses classrooms, teaching labs, research centers, offices, computer labs, conference rooms, and auditoriums. The technology-rich facility was designed by Yeager, Watson and Associates and features a digital forensics lab and video boards displaying business news and stock market information. Ground was broken on the project in February of 2011.

The University of Hawaii at Manoa is building the $103 million Cancer Research Center in Honolulu. Designed by Shimokawa Nakamura in partnership with ZGF Architects and Jacobs Consultancy, the five-story, 150,000-sf facility will provide advanced biomedical research laboratories and offices. The lead contractor is A.C. Kobayashi Construction of Honolulu. Ground was broken on the project in October of 2010 and occupancy is expected in February of 2013.

Michigan State University is planning to build a $15.5 million testing and assembly building to support the planned Facility for Rare Isotope Beams. Located at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory in East Lansing, the 27,000-sf high bay project will accommodate research on superconducting radio frequency components for particle accelerators.

Kennesaw State University opened a $21 million laboratory building in October of 2012 in Kennesaw, Ga. The five-story, 73,000-sf addition will provide six teaching labs, 17 research labs, and classrooms for the College of Science and Mathematics. Designed by Perkins + Will, the collaborative facility features a confocal microscopy suite and a light-filled atrium that connects the addition to the existing science center. LEED Gold sustainable design certification will be sought for the building, which uses chilled beam technology.

The University of Oregon opened the $65 million Lewis Integrative Science Building in October of 2012 in Eugene, Ore. The five-story facility provides 103,000 sf of interdisciplinary research, teaching, and collaboration space for the study of nanotechnology, molecular biology, neuroscience, and energy. Designed by THA Architecture and HDR with Lease Crutcher Lewis as construction manager, the building houses wet labs, dry labs, research offices, an MRI suite, an atrium, and shared core equipment areas.

Delaware State University broke ground on the $50 million Optical Science Center for Applied Research (OSCAR) in October of 2012. Construction will begin on the 70,000-sf facility in July of 2013 with completion expected in November of 2014. The project will house the University's Optics Program and will be built in two phases. The initial 27,000-sf phase will house labs supporting chemistry, nanochemistry, image analysis, conventional and confocal microscopy, and scanning electronic and atomic force microscopy.

The University of California, San Diego will break ground in January of 2013 on the $269 million Altman Clinical and Translational Research Institute. Located adjacent to the new Jacobs Medical Center currently under construction in La Jolla, the seven-story, 315,000-sf research facility will provide collaborative labs and offices for clinical investigators, informatics researchers, engineers, and biomedical scientists. The project will support the integration of advanced genetic sequencing methods into patient diagnosis and treatment.

Georgia Gwinnett College (GGC) is a constantly evolving four-year liberal arts college whose enrollment has grown to more than 9,000 since its founding in 2006. Recognizing that investment in the sciences is essential to the institution's continued growth, administrators see this new laboratory classroom building as an important step towards fulfilling current needs and anticipating the requirements of future development in the fields of laboratory biology, chemistry, and physics.

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory broke ground on the $54 million Solar Energy Research Center (SERC) in October of 2012. The three-story, 40,000-sf facility will support research on electrochemical and photovoltaic solar energy technologies. Designed by SmithGroup of San Francisco, SERC will house the northern branch of the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis, a laboratory created in partnership with the California Institute of Technology.

Western Michigan University broke ground in October of 2012 on a $68 million renovation of the School of Medicine in Kalamazoo. Designed by S/L/A/M Collaborative, the project will create a simulation center, classrooms, faculty and administrative offices, research labs, and an auditorium in the existing 320,000-sf building. A 30,000-sf addition will also be constructed. The general contractor is Walbridge. Completion is expected in May of 2014. 

Wayne State University broke ground on the $93 million Multidisciplinary Biomedical Research Building in October of 2012 in Detroit. Designed by Harley Ellis Devereaux, the 200,000-sf project includes 127,700 gsf of renovated space and 75,000 gsf of new construction. Providing wet and dry labs, faculty offices, and clinical space, the facility will house programs in bioinformatics, computational biology, cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorders, biomedical engineering, and systems biology. The general contractor is Barton Malow.

The University of Massachusetts Lowell opened the $80 million Emerging Technologies and Innovation Center (ETIC) in October of 2012. Designed by HDR and built by Turner Construction, the 84,000-sf facility accommodates research in nanotechnology, molecular biology, plastics engineering, and optics. The building houses a biomedical materials development lab, a high bay manufacturing area, a compounding lab, and a nanotechnology R&D center with wet and dry chemistry, biology, and materials labs.

Colorado State University began construction in October of 2012 on a 65,000-sf million expansion of the Engines and Energy Conversion Laboratory in Fort Collins. The $18.5 million project will provide additional research space for the College of Engineering and a business incubator. LEED Platinum sustainable design certification will be sought for the facility, which will feature combined heat and power, nighttime cold storage, and the use of wind, solar, and biomass fuel sources.

The University of Maryland will begin construction in 2014 on the Edward St. John Learning and Teaching Center in College Park. Designed by Ayers Saint Gross, the $40 million project includes renovation of 27,400 sf in Holzapfel Hall and construction of a 63,400-sf building. The facility will provide technology-rich classrooms and auditoria and is slated for completion in February of 2016. The general contractor for the project is Clark Construction Group.