Higher Education

Pennsylvania State University broke ground in March of 2008 on a $50 million facility for the Dickinson School of Law on the Carlisle campus. Designed and engineered by Polshek Partnership Architects with Gilbane as construction manager, the 94,000-sf project will feature ceremonial courtrooms, legislative hearing rooms, an auditorium, lecture halls, library, and technology-rich classrooms and instructional spaces. LEED certification will be sought for the project. Completion is slated for December 2009.

The National Centre for Zoonosis Research opened in Leahurst in the United Kingdom in March of 2008. Based at the Liverpool University Leahurst veterinary field station, the facility will accommodate collaborative zoonotic disease research. Supported by a £1.7 million grant from the North West Development Agency, the project included renovating a former graduate student housing facility to accommodate a suite of Category 3 laboratories, including a bacterial zoonoses lab, administrative offices, and lecture facilities.

Yale University is planning to construct a 180,000-sf biomedical research building in New Haven, Conn. Designed by Pelli Clark Pelli, the five-story facility will be comprised of an underground lab support floor, three floors of laboratories, and a mechanical penthouse and greenhouses on the fourth floor. LEED Gold certification for sustainable design will be sought for the project. The research facility will be connected to the Kline Biology Tower by a bridge. 

The University of Miami will complete the ten-story, 188,000-sf Interdisciplinary Wet Lab Research Facility in spring of 2008. The facility will house laboratories, offices, interdisciplinary research groups, interaction spaces, and a vivarium. The construction manager is Moss & Associates. LEED certification will be sought for the project, which will connect to the existing Fox Research Facility on the University’s Medical Campus in Miami.

The University of Utah is planning to construct a new $40 million, 80,000-sf facility for the Jon M. Hunst School of Business. The five-story building will house auditoriums, classrooms, offices, the Ethical Leadership Center, the Global Management Center, and the Entrepreneurship Center. The project will connect on several floors to the existing school of business, which will also be renovated.

The University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) will begin construction in March of 2008 on the $120 million General Motors of Canada Centre of Automotive Excellence in Oshawa, Canada. Designed by Diamond + Schmitt Architects Inc., the research and development facility includes a four story wind tunnel and will be built by Vanbots Construction.

Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Ind., approved the construction of the $34.5 million Roger B. Gatewood Wing of the Mechanical Engineering Building in February of 2008. The project will house teaching labs, a 120-seat classroom, instructional space, research laboratories, a tech atrium, offices, and Prototype Engineering and Realization Lab breakout space. LEED certification will be sought for the 84,500-sf energy-efficient wing, which will be constructed as an addition to the School of Mechanical Engineering building.

Indiana University’s Simon Hall received “High Honors” in the 2008 R&D Magazine Lab of the Year competition. The new multidisciplinary science building is located on the Bloomington campus and was designed by Flad Architects. The six-story, 140,000-sf project is sited at the intersection of the departments of chemistry, biology, and biochemistry and houses flexible laboratories, technical support areas, and analytical instrument facilities.

The University of Vermont has received a LEED Gold designation for its $70 million student union, the Dudley H. Davis Center in Burlington. The 220,000-sf facility broke ground in spring of 2005 and reached completion in August of 2007. The project is divided into two main building components: a four-level student union and a two-level, 600-seat performing arts theater. The student union features an atrium and includes a natural chimney that evacuates smoke, in the event of fire, without needing energy-intensive mechanical systems.

Colorado State University initiated construction in early 2008 on a $42 million Diagnostic Medicine Center in Fort Collins. Sited south of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, the 90,000-sf facility will be comprised of the Clinical Pathology Laboratory, the CSU Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, and the Animal Population Health Institute. Completion is slated for December 2009.

North Carolina State University (NCSU) broke ground on a 248,291-sf facility for the College of Engineering in Raleigh on February 27, 2008. Sited on the 1,000-acre Centennial Campus, Engineering Building III will house the Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering (with UNC Chapel Hill) and the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Slated to open in August of 2010, the $70 million facility will contain 80 laboratories, eight classrooms, a wind tunnel, and faculty and graduate student offices.

Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM) is engaged in an expansion of its diagnostic laboratories in Saskatoon. The facility will house postmortem rooms and laboratories for animal disease diagnosis and will be constructed to national biosafety standards. The project began construction in fall of 2006 and is expected to reach completion in 2008. The existing diagnostic laboratory will be renovated once the expansion is complete. The project is part of a major WCVM construction initiative.

Boston University broke ground in late February 2008 on its new facility at Dubai Healthcare City (DHCC). The project, part of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Academic Medical Centre, is slated for completion in 2011. The facility will house graduate and postgraduate programs in dentistry and allied health sciences.

The University of Florida broke ground on the Pathogens Research Facility in Gainesville on February 27, 2008. Housing the Emerging Pathogens Institute, the $60 million facility is slated for completion in August of 2009. Accommodating research on select agents and viruses including SARS, West Nile, and avian influenza, the 108,000-sf building will house BSL-3 facilities, 28 laboratories, offices, three rooftop greenhouses, and support. In addition to the construction cost, the building will contain $15 million in equipment.

Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) is planning to construct the 130,000-sf Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Funded by $60 million from the state of Florida and $53 million in infrastructure expenditures from the city of Port St. Lucie, the facility will operate on funds from National Institutes of Health research grants. The project, to be constructed in the Florida Center for Innovation at Tradition over three years, will be modeled on OHSU’s Beaverton facility with which it will be affiliated.