Higher Education

The University of Waterloo is building the $160 million Mike and Ophelia Lazaridis Quantum-Nano Centre (QNC) in Waterloo, Ontario. Housing research and instruction in quantum information technology and nanotechnology, the 280,000-sf project broke ground in June of 2008 and is slated for occupancy in early 2011. Designed by KPMB Architects of Toronto, the five-story facility will include a 10,000-sf fabrication cleanroom, a metrology suite, teaching and research labs, seminar rooms, and faculty offices.

Green River Community College will break ground in early summer of 2009 on a $25 million academic building in Auburn, Wash. The three-story, 80,000-sf facility will accommodate instruction in business, English, fine arts, social science, and humanities. Slated for occupancy in fall of 2011, the sustainably designed project will feature technology rich classrooms for progressive teaching methodologies. The building will also house faculty offices and a laboratory.

Vedanta University is planning to build a 500-bed academic medical center in Bhubaneswar, India. The Rs 400 crore teaching and research hospital will accommodate multiple medical specialties when it opens in 2011.

The University of Virginia broke ground on two new buildings in Charlottesville in April of 2009. The six-story, 100,000-sf Information Technology Engineering Building will house laboratories, an auditorium, and workrooms for teaching and research in computer science and engineering. Designed to support collaborative research and distance education, the sustainably designed facility is slated for occupancy in fall of 2011.

Tufts University dedicated the $33.7 million New England Regional Biosafety Laboratory on March 30, 2009. Sited on 5.4 acres in North Grafton, Mass., the 41,000-sf project provides 649-sf of BSL-2 space and 8,480-sf of BSL-3 space for zoonotic disease research. The secure facility was designed by Flad Architects and includes laboratories, a vivarium, an insectary, and support space. Construction began on the laboratory in September of 2007.

Harvard Medical School will build a 350,000-sf academic facility in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. The building will serve as Harvard Medical School Dubai Center’s permanent home at Dubai Healthcare City. The facility will include a 340-seat auditorium, instructional facilities, and a simulation center for Harvard’s Institute for Postgraduate Education and Research. The general contractor for the project is Al Naboodah Construction Group.

Washington State University’s Board of Regents approved the schematic design for the $35 million School for Global Animal Health in Pullman, Wash., in late March of 2009. The 47,000-sf facility will be sited adjacent to the Veterinary Teaching Hospital and will accommodate 12 to 15 scientists. Housing research laboratories for the study of zoonotic diseases, emerging pathogen detection, and vaccine development, the facility is funded in part by a $25 million donation from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Rutgers University dedicated its nursing education building in New Brunswick, N.J., on March 30, 2009. The three-story, 18,000-sf facility houses classrooms, lecture halls, teaching labs, faculty offices, examination rooms, and research labs. The $25 million Rutgers Institute for Health and Healthcare Policy and Aging Research is also under construction at the site. The nursing building and the Institute are both located on land owned by Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and leased by Rutgers.

The University of Albany opened a $150 million expansion of the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) in late March of 2009. Located in Albany, N.Y., the 350,000-sf project includes the NanoFab East Office and Laboratory Building and the NanoFab Central Cleanroom Building. Bringing the total footprint of CNSE to over 800,000 sf, the expansion will support industry partnerships with companies including IBM, International Sematech, and Vistec Lithography.

The University of Teesside began construction on a £17 million health education building in April of 2009. Located in Middlesbrough in the United Kingdom, the four-story, 4,200-sm facility will support instruction in dentistry, dental hygiene, and sports therapy. The sustainably designed building is named Centuria South and will include classrooms, offices, laboratories, and therapy facilities. The project was designed by CPMG Architects with Morgan Ashurst as general contractor. Completion is expected by 2010.

Northwestern University officially opened its new campus at Education City in Doha, Qatar, in March of 2009. Northwestern’s programs in communications and journalism will initially be housed in the facilities of Texas A&M and Carnegie-Mellon University, with Northwestern’s instructional facility slated for completion in 2013. Designed by architect Antoine Predock, the building will include classrooms, faculty offices, and four production studios.

The University of Illinois completed the 164,000-sf Business Instructional Facility in Champlain in early 2009. Designed by Cesar Pelli and constructed by Gilbane Building Company, the four-story project includes a five-story glass courtyard garden atrium, a 300-seat auditorium, vaulted zinc roofing clad in photovoltaic tiles, and tiered classrooms with glare-free daylighting. LEED Gold sustainable design certification will be sought for the facility.

The University of Adelaide broke ground on the $37 million Veterinary Science School in Roseworthy, South Australia, in March of 2009. Slated for completion in 2010, the 5,000-sm building will house teaching labs, a clinical skills lab, a pathology teaching and diagnostic suite, a distance learning suite, and a veterinary teaching hospital.

Howard Hughes Medical Institute is partnering with the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa, to construct a $20 million HIV and tuberculosis research facility. Integrated with the Doris Duke Medical Research Institute at Nelson Mandela Medical School, the six-story facility will include two floors of high level biocontainment laboratories.

Brookhaven College, part of the Dallas County Community College District, broke ground on the 28,000-sf Workforce and Continuing Education Building in March of 2009. Located in Farmers Branch, Texas, the $6 million facility was designed by SHW Group of Dallas. Occupancy is slated for January 2010. More than 15 new classrooms will be built, all of which will have laptop carts so they can be used as either a traditional classroom or a computer lab.