Higher Education

Midwestern University is engaged in $140 million in capital improvements on its 11-year-old medical campus in Glendale, Ariz. The 130,000-sf Glendale Hall, housing Midwestern’s dental college, is slated for completion is summer of 2008. The 16,000-sf Barrel Student Center expansion will reach completion in spring of 2008. A 13,000-sf expansion of the medical research building will add space for faculty research and will be completed in spring of 2008.

The National Institutes of Health’s National Center for Research Resources has awarded the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center a $34-million Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) to establish the North and Central Texas Clinical and Translational Science Initiative (NCTCTSI).

The NIH’s National Center for Research Resources has awarded a $33.8 million Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) to the University of Iowa (UI) to establish the UI Institute for Clinical and Translational Science. The five-year grant will support collaborative translational research with all eleven of the University of Iowa’s colleges and approximately 40 centers and institutes, as well as Iowa State University and the University of Arizona.

Yale University School of Medicine opened an $88.6 million translational research facility in New Haven, Conn., on Oct. 5, 2007. The 110,000-sf building houses laboratories for three interdisciplinary programs: the Interdepartmental Program in Vascular Biology and Therapeutics; the Human and Translational Immunology Program; and the Yale Stem Cell Center. The sustainably designed facility supports biomedical and clinical research.

The University of Iowa broke ground on the $47.7 million College of Public Health Academic Building in Iowa City in October of 2007. The five-story, 130,000-gsf facility is comprised of two wings and will house faculty and administrative offices, an auditorium, classrooms, and student space. Designed by Payette of Boston and Rohrbach Associates PC of Iowa City, the facility will seek LEED sustainable design certification for features including reflective roofing, use of natural light, and permeable paving systems.

The University of Colorado is planning to construct the 260,000-sf Jennie Smoly Caruthers Biotechnology Center in Boulder. Funded in part by a $20 million donation from faculty biochemistry professor and Amgen founder Marvin Caruthers, the $115 million multidisciplinary facility will bring together biologists, computer scientists, engineers, chemists, and physicists. The project is part of the University’s Colorado Initiative in Molecular Biotechnology.

Florida International University has selected HOK to design the 103,000-sf College of Nursing & Health Sciences building in Miami. Housing all seven college departments, the facility will feature eight simulator rooms for nursing and health science instruction. The technology-rich building’s 15 laboratories, two 150-seat classrooms, and three auditoriums will foster interdisciplinary collaborative learning. Completion is slated for 2009.

The State of New Jersey has selected architectural firm Ballinger of Philadelphia to design the planned $50 million Integrated Biology and Genomic Medicine Institute in Camden. The project construction manager for the stem-cell research center is Skanska of Parsippany. The facility will be owned by Rutgers University-Camden; research partners include the Coriell Institute, Cooper University Hospital; and Robert Wood Johnson Medical School at Camden.

With ARAMARK as its commissioning agent, the new science building at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pa., has been awarded a Silver Rating from the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System. This is the first building on the college’s campus to be LEED certified. The 47,000-sf facility houses the life science laboratories, classrooms, and offices.

Yale University has selected London-based architectural firm Foster + Partners to design the new School of Management (SOM) campus. Sited on 4.25 acres in New Haven, Conn., the 230,000-square-foot facility more than doubles the size of the existing 110,000-sf school of management and is expected to attain LEED certification. The building will house classrooms, faculty offices, administration, and student and community spaces. Construction is expected to reach completion in 2011.

California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) is planning to construct the Center for Science and Mathematics in San Luis Obispo. Designed by Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects of Los Angeles with Research Facilities Design (RFD) as laboratory design consultant, the project will provide classroom and science laboratory space for the College of Science and Mathematics in an approximately 86,349 to 102,233 assignable-square-foot building. The estimated construction cost is between $69,365,000 and $83,198,000.

The University of Minnesota opened the $21.7 million Education Sciences Building in Minneapolis on Oct. 5, 2007. The renovated 69,808-sf facility formerly housed the Mineral Resources Research Center. Construction began on the project in spring of 2005. Housing laboratory, office, and meeting space for the College of Education and Human Development, the renovation included the addition of infill floors and replacement of all mechanical, electrical, circulation and infrastructure equipment.

Colorado State University celebrated the opening of its $30 million Regional Biocontainment Laboratory on October 2, 2007. Sited on the Foothills Campus in Fort Collins, the 38,000-sf aerosol challenge facility will house mice for infectious disease and potential bioterror agent research. The BSL-3 laboratory features a $600,000 mass spectrometer, autoclaves, seven-layer epoxy floors, and rigorous HEPA air filtration. The project was built by a joint venture of Heath Construction with Hensel Phelps Construction.

The University of Calgary opened the $28.8 million Child Development Centre (CDC) in Calgary, Alberta, in October of 2007. The 128,000-sf facility is four stories tall with a parking garage and houses offices, research laboratories, and child care space. Construction began on the CDC in October of 2005. The University hopes to attain a LEED Platinum certification for the facility as part of an initiative for all new buildings to target a Platinum sustainable design level.

Peking University Health Science Center, located in Beijing, China, entered into a strategic partnership with Duke Medicine in September of 2007. Enabling the integration of healthcare delivery, the seven-year agreement will bring Duke University administrators, faculty, and researchers to Beijing to develop concepts for systems and services integration to enhance operational efficiency.