Higher Education

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.

Marshall University broke ground in October of 2012 on the $50 million Applied Engineering Complex in Huntington, Va. The multistory facility will house the College of Information Technology and Engineering; the departments of Mathematics and Computational Science; a computer modeling, digital imaging, and simulation suite; the Transportation Research Corporation; the Marshall University Research Corporation; and mechanical, electrical engineering, and biomedical research labs.

Hackensack University Medical Center is building the $39 million Pascack Valley Hospital in Westwood, N.J. The project includes extensive renovations of an existing five-story facility as well as new construction. The completed hospital will provide obstetrics, orthopedics, and oncology, as well as 128 private inpatient rooms. Completion is expected in spring of 2013. 

The University of Ottawa broke ground on the Advanced Research Complex (ARC) in September of 2012. The $57 million project will house the Centre for Advanced Photonics and geoscience laboratories. The facility will feature low-vibration research spaces, constructed on an isolated slab, with refined temperature and humidity controls. The ARC will house an accelerator mass spectrometer and lasers for research in nanophotonics. Completion is expected in spring of 2014.

The University of Leicester opened a £16 million animal research facility in September of 2012 in the United Kingdom. The three-story, 48,000-sf Central Research Facility provides biomedical research laboratories, vivarium space for mice and rats, and advanced imaging suites. Construction began on the project in summer of 2010.

Construction began in September of 2012 on the $1.8 billion Sunshine Coast University Hospital in Birtinya, Australia. Located on the Kawana Health Campus, the 10-story tertiary teaching hospital is being delivered by Exemplar Health Consortium as a public-private partnership (PPP). The construction subcontractor for the sustainably designed project is Lend Lease. The facility will open with 450 beds in late 2016 and will be fully commissioned with 738 beds in mid-2021. 

The University at Buffalo School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences opened its new home, the $62 million John and Editha Kapoor Hall in September of 2012. Designed by S/L/A/M Collaborative, the 147,000-sf building provides teaching and research labs, classrooms, conference rooms, and computer labs. Supporting clinical and translational research, the building will accommodate the study of proteomics, protein therapeutics, and pharmacogenomics. Ground was broken on the project in September of 2009.