Higher Education

The University of Michigan will open the $754 million C.S. Mott Children's Hospital and Von Voigtlander Women's Hospital in Ann Arbor in November of 2011. The 1.1 million-sf building features entirely private rooms and 32 adult bone marrow transplant beds. The hospital comprises a 12-story inpatient wing and a 9-story outpatient wing. The facility provides 348 beds, 16 operating rooms, and two interventional radiology rooms. The duration of construction was five years. 

Oregon Health & Science University broke ground on the $295 million Collaborative Life Sciences Building in Portland in October of 2011. Designed by Sera Architects, the 480,000-sf facility will provide teaching and research labs, classrooms, and lecture halls. The building will also house the OHSU School of Dentistry. Occupancy is expected in spring of 2014. The facility is located on the Schnitzer Campus and is being created in partnership with Portland State University and Oregon State University.

The University of Texas Health Science Center dedicated the $150 million South Texas Research Facility in San Antonio in October of 2011. Designed by Rafael Viñoly Architects to promote translational research and interdisciplinary collaboration, the three-story building houses open labs for up to 20 teams of investigators, each with eight members. The facility also provides research offices, a tissue culture, a core imaging suite, and a bioinformatics lab.

The University of Kentucky dedicated the Davis Marksbury Building in Lexington in October of 2011. Part of the College of Engineering, the three-story, 45,014-sf facility provides teaching and research labs, a 100-seat auditorium, a visualization suite, faculty offices, and administrative space. The building houses the Department of Computer Science, the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and the UK Center for Visualization and Virtual Environments. The project was awarded LEED Gold sustainable design certification in August of 2011. 

Cornell University dedicated the $71 million Human Ecology Building in October of 2011 in Ithaca, N.Y. Designed by Gruzen Samton, the 89,000-sf facility houses classrooms, labs, a wood and metal shop, and a 280-car parking garage.  The building also provides studios for design, drawing, and fabrication. Construction started on the project in 2005. 

The University of New Mexico’s Science and Math Learning Center was awarded Gold sustainable design certification in the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED for Schools rating system in October of 2011. The LEED for Schools rating system is unique among other LEED programs as it addresses core learning areas and requires higher performance standards for air quality, acoustics, daylighting, and thermal comfort. Van H.

Purdue University Calumet opened the newly renovated Center for Innovation through Visualization and Simulation in October of 2011. The 6,300-sf multidisciplinary research center is located on the first floor of the Powers Computer Education Building on the Calumet campus in Hammond, Ind. The $2.7 million renovation and expansion project provides updated simulation and visualization labs, including an immersive research theater and a 3D virtual classroom.

Bishop Fenwick Place, Xavier University’s new residential and dining complex, was dedicated in September of 2011 in Cincinnati. Designed by Shepley Bulfinch, Fenwick Place is home to 535 sophomores with suite-style living in four connected wings that rise above a green terrace. The terrace also serves as the roof of Hoff Dining Commons, the university’s new central dining facility. The new Commons seats up to 700 and a retail component with seating spills onto the patio outside.

Commonwealth Medical College dedicated the $115 million Medical Science Building in October of 2011. Located in Scranton, Pa., the four-story, 183,000-sf facility comprises two wings, one housing research space and the other for academic instruction. The building features 35 medical research labs, 24 small-group teaching rooms, a 250-seat auditorium, lecture halls, simulation suites for medical training, and a gross anatomy lab with 21 air changes per hour. Construction began on the project in February of 2009.

The University of British Columbia broke ground on the $68.8 million Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health in October of 2011. Located at UBC Hospital in Vancouver, the six-story translational facility will support advanced neuroscience research, teaching, and clinical care. The center will include a collaboration atrium called the Synapse Garden and a repository for DNA and brain tissue. The Centre for Brain Health is being created in partnership with Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute.

The University of Illinois broke ground in October of 2011 on the $95 million Electrical and Computer Engineering Building in Urbana. The six-story, 232,000-sf facility will house advanced classrooms, labs, and equipment suites for interdisciplinary research in energy, biotechnology, nanotechnology, computing, and communications. Designed by SmithGroup of Chicago, the project will enable UI to consolidate programs currently housed in several locations.

Oregon State University opened the $62.5 million Linus Pauling Science Center in Corvallis in October of 2011. The 105,000-sf teaching and research facility features flexible 24-person lab modules and a 180-seat multimedia auditorium. The center houses the Linus Pauling Institute which promotes the study of micronutrients, vitamins, and phytochemicals for disease prevention. The facility also provides research space for the Department of Chemistry, including a cleanroom and an imaging suite with magnetic resonance and electron microscopy instrumentation.

Texas A&M University opened the Building Information Modeling Computer-Aided Virtual Environment (BIM CAVE) in October of 2011 in College Station. Located on the fourth floor of the Department of Construction Science's Langford Architecture Center, the laboratory enables students and researchers to explore building systems with an array of twelve 46-inch monitors for immersive visualization. 

The University of Minnesota broke ground on an $83 million physics and nanotechnology building in Minneapolis in October of 2011. The 60,000-sf building will house 40 laboratories for the College of Science and Engineering and a 5,000-sf cleanroom. Completion is expected in November of 2013.

Marquette University opened the $50 million Engineering Hall in October of 2011 in Milwaukee. The five-story, 115,000-sf facility houses 38 laboratories, offices, common areas, and a two-story materials and structural testing lab. Functioning as a living laboratory, Engineering Hall includes over 100 sensors to measure temperature, humidity, and electricity use to support instruction in building management and construction science. Ground was broken on the facility in spring of 2010.