Higher Education

The University of Texas at Austin is constructing the $175 million Norman Hackerman Research Building. Slated for completion by year-end 2010, the research and teaching complex will accommodate the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, the Institute of Neuroscience, and the School of Biological Science. The Hackerman Research Building will include seven organic chemistry teaching labs, 14 organic chemistry research labs, neurobiology labs, and core facilities for electron microscopy, NMR, and fMRI (functional magnetic resonance).

The University of Western Ontario's $22 million Claudette MacKay-Lassonde Pavilion is slated for completion in September of 2009. Located in London, Ontario, the 45,000-sf facility houses research laboratories for sustainable technologies and materials. LEED Gold certification will be sought for the project. Supporting the department of engineering, the facility features an atrium, a green roof, a wind turbine, photovoltaic panels, and a water recovery system.

The University of Tennessee will begin construction in fall of 2009 on the Joint Institute for Advanced Materials in Knoxville. Located on the Cherokee Farms campus, the research facility will be built to attain LEED sustainable design certification. The project will utilize solar and geothermal energy and is funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The University of Oklahoma is constructing the Devon Energy Hall and the ExxonMobile Lawrence G. Rawl Engineering Practice Facility. Both projects are expected to reach completion in fall of 2009. The total cost of both facilities was $42.2 million. Housing two teaching labs and three classrooms, the Devon Energy Hall will provide research space for the College of Engineering's School of Computer Science and School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. The Engineering Practice Facility will house interdisciplinary instructional space for engineering students.

The University of Teesside is planning to construct the £11m Centuria South Building in Teesside in the United Kingdom. Designed by CPMG Architects, the 4,200-sm facility will be built by contractor Morgan Ashurst with Shepherd Engineering Services as mechanical and electrical engineer. The four-story building will house instructional facilities for dentistry and sports therapy and will include laboratories, therapy suites, classrooms, and academic offices. Completion is expected in April of 2010.

The University of California, Los Angeles is building the 175,000-sf Life Sciences Building on its Westwood campus. Replacing the existing life sciences facility, the $155 million building will house the Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology; the Department of Physiological Science; and the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Comprised of two separate five-story wings connected by a basement, the facility will provide wet and dry research labs, a plant growth lab, and vivarium space. LEED Silver sustainable design certification will be sought for the facility.

Marshall University is planning to construct the $50 million Applied Science Center in Huntington, W.V. The 140,000-sf facility will house the College of Information Technology and Engineering, the departments of mathematics and computational sciences, a modeling and digital imaging resource facility, and engineering and bioengineering research labs. Occupancy is expected in 2012.

Indiana University Bloomington opened a new laboratory for the study of select agents and pathogens at the College of Arts and Sciences in August of 2009. The project team included BSA LifeStructures of Indianapolis as architect/engineer of record with CDI of Bloomington as general contractor. Laboratory control systems were provided by Siemens of Indianapolis with commissioning services provided by George Butler Associates of Lenexa, Kan., and VicoCon of Kansas City, Mo.

Algonquin College will begin construction in April of 2011 on a $36 million waterfront campus in Pembroke, Ontario, Canada. The 80,000-sf facility is slated for occupancy in fall of 2012.

The College of Saint Rose is building the $9 million Massry Center for the Arts in New York. The 32,000-sf facility will house a 400-seat recital hall, rehearsal spaces, a gallery, classrooms, seminar rooms, and dormitories. The Center for Communications and Interactive Media will include studios for music recording, television, and radio; a video production room; and a multimedia computer laboratory. Completion is expected in January of 2010.

The University of Waterloo broke ground on the $9 million Summit Centre for the Environment in Huntsville, Ontario, in August of 2009. The 30,000-sf research facility will support environmental science and ecology with laboratories, classrooms, seminar rooms, and dormitories. Completion is expected by fall of 2010.

Princeton University will open the completed Butler College dormitories in September of 2009. The 113,000-sf sustainably designed complex can accommodate 287 students. The project also includes a classroom, a seminar room, an amphitheater courtyard, and food service. The facilities were designed by Pei Cobb Freed & Partners of New York.

The University of Colorado dedicated the $56 million Science and Engineering Building in Colorado Springs in August of 2009. The 156,000-sf facility houses 53 research labs, 32 teaching labs, and 11 classrooms. The sustainably designed building houses the departments of biology, physics, and mechanical and aerospace engineering, as well as the National Institute for Science, Space, and Security Centers, and the CU Institute for Bioenergetics. Ground was broken for the project in 2006.

The University of California, Berkeley is planning to construct the $112.9 million Computational Research and Theory Facility. The 126,300-gsf project will house the Department of Energy’s National Energy Research Scientific Computing (NERSC) Center. Providing 73,000-asf, the facility will house a 32,000-sf high performance computing floor and offices for NERSC and university researchers.

The University of California is funding construction of research facilities by loaning the State of California $199.8 million, to be paid back over three years at 3.2 percent interest. The state will then allocate the money to the University of California to support construction on voter-approved projects.