Higher Education

IBM is partnering with The Swiss Technical University (ETH) to construct a £44 million nanotechnology laboratory near Zurich, Switzerland. Housing 900-sm of cleanroom space, the facility will accommodate 268-sm for IBM, 258-sm for ETH, and 400-sm of shared research space. The building will be sited on IBM’s Rueschlikon campus and will house temperature-stable laboratories protected from vibrations and EMI. The facility will accommodate research on nanotubes, nano-optics, spintronics, and carbon-based materials.

The University of Oklahoma is constructing two facilities for the College of Engineering in Norman. The 103,118-sf Devon Energy Hall will provide teaching labs, classrooms, research areas, and meeting rooms. The five-story facility will house the School of Computer Science and School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. The 41,052-sf, two-story ExxonMobil Lawrence G. Rawl Engineering Practice Facility will include 10,000-sf of space for engineering projects, computer labs, and tutoring.

The University of Victoria opened its $37.7 million social sciences and mathematics facility in late June of 2008. The 9,090-sm building houses classrooms, research labs, lecture halls, offices, and meeting rooms for geography, environmental studies, political science, and mathematics. The facility, which features two green roofs, was built to LEED Gold sustainable design standards and houses the Water & Climate Impacts Research Centre. Sustainable design features include natural ventilation, energy efficient lighting, and use of recycled construction materials.

The University of California, San Diego has selected EMCOR subsidiaries Dynalectric Company and University Mechanical & Engineering Contractors to provide the electrical and mechanical infrastructure for the 128,000-sf Sulpizio Family Cardiovascular Center in San Diego.

Lee University will initiate construction in July of 2008 on a 73,000-sf laboratory and classroom facility for science and mathematics instruction in Cleveland, Tenn. The $14 million facility will be comprised of two wings connected by a central commons and will house a 150-seat lecture hall, 13 classrooms, 10 laboratories, 30 faculty offices, a large student lounge, reading rooms, and two computer labs.

The University of California at Santa Cruz will construct a $12.9 million stem cell research center on the fourth floor of its planned Biomedical Sciences Building. Supported by $7.2 million in funding from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), the 19,829-sf facility will house interdisciplinary stem cell research laboratories. The project will include core research areas, microscopy, and tissue culture rooms. 

The University of Minnesota will construct a plant pathogen laboratory with greenhouses on its St. Paul campus. The project was approved by the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service in June of 2008 and will accommodate research on diseases such as the virulent stem rust Ug99. The secure facility will feature advanced air filtration and containment technologies.

Morehead State University is partnering with the University of Kentucky and St. Claire Regional Medical Center to build the 92,500-sf Center for Education, Health and Research in Morehead, Ky.  Providing medical education and patient diagnosis and treatment, the $28 million facility will break ground in August of 2008 with completion slated for 2010. The center will house classrooms for MSU’s medical imaging and nursing departments, nurse and physician training programs for the University of Kentucky, and the St.

The University of Alabama’s $64 million Science and Engineering Complex in Birmingham is slated for completion in July of 2009. Built by B.L. Harbert International, the three-story project is comprised of 235,000-sf teaching and research facilities, including a BSL-3 laboratory. Davis Architects of Birmingham are the project design consultants. The facility will house classrooms and laboratories for biology and chemistry and includes the expansion of an existing energy plant and relocation of cooling towers.

The University of Melbourne is planning to construct the $100 million Victorian Life Sciences Computation Initiative Centre in the University’s Parkville Precinct in Melbourne, Australia. The facility will support high performance computing for life sciences research on diseases including cancer, influenza, and brain disorders by using large databases of genetic information. The facility will partner on research initiatives with the San Diego Supercomputer Center of the University of California, San Diego.

Virginia Tech is planning to construct a $90 million research center in the Ballston area of Arlington. Strategically located near the National Science Foundation, the Office of Naval Research, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the seven-story, 144,000-sf facility is slated for occupancy in late 2010. The center will house 250 faculty, staff, and graduate students engaged in bioinformatics, public health, and medical informatics research, as well as the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute and the Institute of Critical Technology and Applied Science.

Arkansas Tech will begin construction in summer of 2008 on a 60,000-sf academic facility in Russellville, Ark. The building will house the Tech School of Business, two floors of instructional classrooms, and an academic advising center. Occupancy is slated for spring of 2010. Arkansas Tech is also planning an expansion of its engineering and life science facilities and the construction of a new physical plant complex.

The Skidaway Institute of Oceanography is building the Marine and Coastal Science Research and Instructional Center (MCSRIC) on Skidaway Island, Ga. The project broke ground in December of 2007 and will house 11,000-sf of research laboratories, space for visiting scientists, and instructional space for University System of Georgia marine science students. LEED certification for sustainable design will be sought for the facility, which is slated for completion in spring of 2009.

The University of Toronto at Mississauga will break ground in fall of 2008 on the four-story New Medical Academy Building. Two-thirds of the facility will house instructional and administrative space with one-third housing research labs and faculty offices. The $36 million health sciences complex will include classrooms and laboratories for chemistry, forensics, psychology, molecular biology, and biomedical research. The project manager is PMX Inc. Completion is slated for August of 2010.

North Carolina State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine is building the $72 million Randall B. Terry Jr. Companion Animal Medical Center in Raleigh. Housing small animal services including cardiology, internal medicine, neurology, emergency, critical care, surgery, and oncology, the 115,000-sf center will accommodate up to 25,000 cases a year.