Higher Education

Oklahoma State University (OSU) opened the $15 million North Classroom Building in Stillwater in January of 2009. The technology-rich instructional facility includes 14 classrooms, two 125-seat auditoriums, faculty offices, a study center, and a café.  Sustainable design features of the three-story, 50,000-sf project include energy efficient HVAC systems, lighting, and windows. North Oklahoma College partnered with OSU to create the facility and will also utilize the building.

The University of Massachusetts, Lowell is planning to construct the $100 million Emerging Technologies and Innovation Center (ETIC). Designed by CUH2A, the 100,000-sf project will house academic instruction, bio- and nano-manufacturing space, R&D laboratories, and a business incubator. LEED Silver certification for sustainable design will be sought for the facility.

Louisiana State University's Pennington Biomedical Research Center broke ground in January of 2009 on the $18.2 million Clinical Research Building in Baton Rouge, La. The 90,000-sf, four-story facility will support translational research for disease treatment and prevention. The project contractor is Milton J. Womack of Baton Rouge. Completion is expected in July of 2010.

The University of Adelaide is building a $103 million engineering facility on its North Terrace Campus in Adelaide, South Australia. The nine-story building is expected to reach completion in 2010. The project contractor is Hindmarsh Construction. The sustainably-designed facility will feature advanced building performance monitoring equipment. Additionally, the University will begin construction in July of 2009 on the $31 million Centre of Photonics to support optical fibre and lasers research. Completion is expected in three years.

Florida Atlantic University initiated construction in January of 2009 on a $30 million research facility in Davie. The 75,000-sf project will support research on the Everglades region and will be shared with the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. The sustainably-designed facility is sited on 25 acres and is slated for completion in fall of 2010.

The Department of Homeland Security has selected Manhattan, Kansas, as the site for the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility. Located at Kansas State University (KSU), the $650 million, 500,000-sf laboratory will accommodate research on zoonotic and foreign animal diseases. The National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility will be comprised of two laboratory buildings and four outbuildings. The main lab will provide BSL-2, BSL-3, BSL-3Ag, and BSL-4 space with the second lab building housing small-scale vaccine and reagent production.

The University of Minnesota has selected Stahl Construction and MN Best Enterprises as the construction team for the renovation of the Urban Research and Outreach/Engagement Center (UROC) in Minneapolis. The project involves renovation of an existing facility to house programs in early childhood education, urban youth development, nutrition education, and family development.

Glendale Community College opened its 63,000-sf Life Sciences Building in Glendale, Ariz., in January of 2009. Supporting instruction in biology, nursing, and psychology, the three-story facility was designed by GouldEvans and built by DPR Construction. The sustainably-designed project houses classrooms, 72 faculty offices, nine biology labs, four nursing training suites, a greenhouse, meeting rooms, and a vivarium.

The University of Kentucky is planning to construct the $18.6 million Davis Marksbury Building in Lexington. Housing research in visualization, computer science, and electrical and computer engineering, the building represents Phase II of the Digital Village complex. The 25,000-sf project will provide space for the UK Center for Visualization and Virtual Environments, the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and the Department of Computer Science.

The University of Iowa opened the 35,000-sf BioVentures Center in Coralville in January of 2009. Located in the UI Research Park, the business incubator features 20 wet labs, 16 offices, shared equipment rooms, and conference rooms for biotechnology and life science companies. Supporting the commercialization of research discoveries, the $8.5 million facility was designed by OPN Architects and built by Ryan Companies, both of Cedar Rapids. Construction began in November of 2007 and reached substantial completion in November of 2008.

Florida State University opened the $20 million High-Performance Materials Institute in January of 2009. Located in Innovation Park in Tallahassee, the facility houses research and development laboratories for advanced composite materials, components, and structures. Designed by Ponikvar & Associates of Gainesville, the High-Performance Materials Institute includes a high-bay manufacturing lab, a vibration-isolated slab for microscopes, and a cleanroom. The two-story, 45,000-sf project was built by Culpepper Construction.

Texas A&M University opened the Soltis Center for Research and Education in San Isidro, Costa Rica in early 2009. Sited on 40 acres adjacent to 250 acres of rainforest, the facility provides classrooms, dormitories, and support spaces for environmental science teaching and research. The Soltis Center will officially be dedicated in June of 2009.

Temple University’s Fox School of Business opened the $80 million Alter Hall in Philadelphia in January of 2009. The seven-story, 217,000-sf facility features Mediasite lecture capture technologies to support multimedia webcasting. Designed by architect Michael Graves, Alter Hall houses 30 technology-rich classrooms and tiered case study rooms.

Drexel University is planning to construct the $55 million Antoinette Westphal College of Media Arts and Design in Philadelphia. The 143,000-sf project involves the renovation of two existing facilities to house consolidated instructional and administrative space for programs in digital media, arts management, fashion design, interior design, product design, and architecture. Administrative occupancy will begin in fall of 2009 with academic programs commencing in the facility in fall of 2010.

Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine will relocate the Brain Sciences Institute to 25,000 sf of laboratory space in the John G. Rangos Sr. Building in Baltimore. Located in the Science + Technology Park at Johns Hopkins, the project was developed by Forest City-New East Baltimore Partnership. The facility will be the center of the Institute's operations as well as housing labs and offices for the NeuroTranslational Program.