Higher Education

The University of Scranton is building an $83 million interdisciplinary science center. The 150,000-sf facility will house the departments of physics, math, computer science, chemistry, and biology. Designed to promote interaction and collaboration, the five-story facility will provide classrooms, faculty offices, research labs, a 180-seat lecture hall, five aquatic areas for fish, a three-story atrium, a greenhouse, and a café. LEED Silver sustainable design certification will be sought for the project. Occupancy is expected in fall of 2011.

Royal Roads University will complete the $20 million Learning and Innovation Building in March of 2011. Located on Vancouver Island in Victoria, B.C., the facility houses classrooms, offices, a social science lab, a 100-seat videoconferencing lecture hall, and the Centre for Dialogue. LEED Gold sustainable design certification will be sought for the project.

Claremont McKenna College will open the Kravis Center in July of 2011. Located in Claremont, Calif., the five-story, 162,000-sf facility will house classrooms, seminar rooms, faculty and administrative offices, and a lecture hall. The Kravis Center will also house IT servers and a chilled loop system providing cooling for the entire west end of campus. The project was designed by Rafael Viñoly Architects and built by Bernards Construction. LEED Gold certification will be sought for the facility.

La Trobe University has awarded Watpac Construction a $66 million contract to build the Institute of Molecular Science in Melbourne. The $93 million facility will provide teaching and research facilities for biotechnology, nanotechnology, and molecular science. The six-story, 118,400-sf project will include teaching labs, research labs, academic offices, and a lecture hall. Construction began on the facility in February of 2011 with completion expected in late 2012.

The University of Missouri-Columbia broke ground on a $1.2 million pulse power research facility for the College of Engineering in February of 2011. The addition will support collaborative research with the Department of Defense on energy capacitors, lasers, alternative energy, and algae. Occupancy is expected in summer of 2011.

The University of Pennsylvania broke ground in February of 2011 on the $80 million Krishna P. Singh Center for Nanotechnology in Philadelphia. The 78,000-gsf facility will support fundamental and translational research and education with 10,000 sf of cleanroom space, a 6,500-sf characterization suite, and 9,000 sf of general laboratories. The Singh Center was designed by Weiss/Manfredi and the construction manager is Gilbane Building Company. LEED Silver sustainable design certification will be sought for the multidisciplinary project.

The University of Maryland began construction in early 2011 on the $128 million Physical Sciences Complex in College Park. The 158,068-sf complex will house labs and offices for the Department of Physics, the Department of Astronomy, and the Institute for Physical Science and Technology (IPST). The first phase of construction includes a four-story tower connected to the adjacent Computer and Space Sciences Building and an underground core research facility.

Louisiana Tech broke ground in February of 2011 on the 42,000-sf College of Business in Ruston. Supported by $12.4 million in state funding as well as private contributions, the building will house classrooms, research centers, offices, computer labs, conference rooms, and auditoriums. The facility was designed by Yeager, Watson and Associates of Alexandria, La.

Fordham University broke ground on a $250 million facility in New York in February of 2011. The 22-story, 468,000-sf building will provide nine floors for the School of Law and thirteen residential floors. The project is located on Fordham’s Lincoln Center campus and will feature a two-story atrium, courtrooms, and a law library with 562,000 volumes. The general contractor is Mayrich Construction. LEED Silver sustainable design certification will be sought for the project. Completion is expected in 2014.

The University of California, Merced opened the $7 million Stem Cell Instrumentation Foundry in February of 2011. Located on the first floor of the Science and Engineering Building, the 3,905-sf facility includes two cleanrooms and a microscopy room. The interdisciplinary project was supported by $4.36 million in funding from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. The facility will produce lab-on-a-chip devices for use in biomedical research.

National Cheng Kung University Medical College opened its expanded Small Laboratory Animal Division in February of 2011. The facility includes a 3,552-sf animal breeding addition. The project provides a sterile environment with HEPA filtration and individually ventilated cages to house animals used in biomedical research.

Stanford University School of Medicine will begin construction in spring of 2011 on the $21 million Jill and John Freidenrich Center for Translational Research in Palo Alto, Calif. The three-story, 30,690-sf facility will house 250 cancer researchers and space for clinical trials. Occupancy is expected in August of 2012. The center was designed by WRNS Studio and will be built by Devcon Construction.

The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) opened the $123 million Ray and Dagmar Dolby Regeneration Medicine Building in February of 2011. The translational research facility was designed by Rafael Viñoly Architects to promote multidisciplinary collaboration and is the headquarters of the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research. Located on the university's Parnassus campus, the 74,832-gsf (46,283-asf) building houses open laboratories, offices, and support. Ground was broken on the facility in fall of 2008.

Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) will break ground in April of 2011 on a $30 million bioscience incubator in Worcester, Mass. Located in Gateway Park, the four-story, 92,000-sf facility will be financed, built, and owned by O’Connell Development Group. The building will house WPI’s Biomanufacturing Education and Training Center, the School of Business graduate program, and the expanded Fire Protection Engineering Department and research laboratory. The building will also provide additional space for the Life Sciences and Bioengineering Center.

Mount Sinai Medical Center is building the Center for Science and Medicine in New York. The 12-story, 500,000-sf facility will provide advanced research, clinical, and imaging facilities. The center will house the Translational Molecular Imaging Institute as well as linear accelerators and infusion suites. Occupancy is expected in 2012. The project construction manager is Bovis Lend Lease.