Higher Education

The University of Memphis in Tennessee will spend $36 million on four major infrastructure improvement projects. The first is the $15-million installation at the relocated Law School of two to three 1,000-ton chillers and three to four 100,000 pound-per-hour natural gas fired boilers to provide steam and chilled water. The project was designed by Askew Nixon Ferguson Architects of Memphis. Construction will begin in summer of 2007 with completion slated for spring of 2008.

Florida Atlantic University (FAU) is planning to construct the $400 million Charles E. Schmidt Medical Center on 38 acres of its Boca Raton campus. The new academic medical center will be created as a partnership between FAU, the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, and Boca Raton Community Hospital.

Yale University is developing the West Campus, an interdisciplinary research hub for disciplines including biology, chemistry, environmental science, and physics. Located on 136 acres in West Haven, Conn., the site was previously owned by Bayer and includes 17 buildings comprising 1.5 million-sf with 550,000-sf of biology and chemistry research laboratories. Renovations to the facilities will continue through summer of 2008 when initial occupancy will begin.

The University of California San Francisco Medical Center has selected architectural firm Anshen + Allen to design its $1.3-billion Mission Bay hospital complex. The first phase of the project is slated to begin construction in 2011 and reach completion in 2014. The project will include a 70-bed cancer center, a 289-bed acute care facility, a 183-bed children’s hospital, and a 36-bed women’s facility.

Medical College of Georgia Hospitals and Clinics will spend $163 million in the next three years on capital improvements. The projects include a $23 million Comprehensive Cancer Center; an $8.3 million expansion of the Neuroscience Center of Excellence including ten universal ICU beds; $20.6 million in cardiovascular services improvements; $10.3 million in imaging equipment; a $7.8 million renovation of obstetric and gynecological facilities; $6.5 million in image storage and retrieval technology; and a $3.6 million linear accelerator for radiation therapy.

Monmouth College is planning a $40 million research and teaching complex on its Monmouth, Ill., campus. The 140,000-sf facility will house the departments of science, mathematics, and business in a collaborative environment with a special focus on agriculture. The academic complex, housing laboratories and classrooms, will innovatively combine science and business studies to facilitate interdisciplinary research.

Iowa State University (ISU) began construction in late 2006 on the first phase of a $51-million renovation of its Veterinary Diagnostics Laboratory and Veterinary Teaching Hospital. The project includes renovations to the existing 100,000-sf facility and a 55,000-sf addition housing an advanced imaging facility with improved biocontainment capabilities. The second project phase entails renovations of a vacant small animal facility to enable future expansion. Both phases are expected to reach completion in late 2009.

George Mason University (GMU) has opened the 98,974-sf Research I facility in Fairfax, Va. The $21.7-million facility features an astronomical observatory tower and telescope dome, faculty offices, laboratories, and research facilities for the College of Science, including the Center for Earth Observing and Space Research, the Center for Quantum Studies, and the Center for History and New Media. The project began construction in 2003 and opened for classes in fall of 2006. 

The University of Kansas Medical Center celebrated the opening of the 205,000-sf Life Sciences Innovation Center in Kansas City in December of 2006. The five-story, $57.2-million facility was designed by Cannon Design of Grand Island, N.Y., and GLPM Architects of Lawrence, Kansas, to accommodate collaborative research in neuroscience, reproductive biology, and proteomics. The facility houses laboratories, conference rooms, and shared equipment areas to encourage team research.

Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif., is planning a multi-building expansion of its School of Medicine comprising up to five buildings over the next fifteen years. The first $86-million facility, the Learning and Knowledge Center, is being designed by NBBJ of San Francisco. The 120,000-sf facility will connect the medical school with Stanford’s main campus and will house a biomedical library, classrooms, and hospital simulation rooms. Groundbreaking is slated for 2008.

The University of Memphis is planning several projects to expand its Tennessee campus. The $46-million University Center will include dining, a small theater, and a 24-hour zone including an all-night computer lab. A $20-million dormitory will begin construction in 2008. Both projects are slated for completion in 2009. The University is also planning to build a $75-million music building and a $23 million science building.

The U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., has selected URS Corporation to design the renovation of Bartlett Hall and its expansion into the attached Cadet Library. URS will provide comprehensive programming, planning, architectural design, and engineering services for the improvements to the historic 1913 building. Together the adjacent and connected buildings total over 321,260 gsf and will house teaching and research laboratories for chemistry, biology, physics, photonics, classrooms, offices, and support space.

The Medical College of Georgia dedicated its $34-million, 189,000-sf Health Sciences Building in Augusta, Ga., on January 19, 2007. The facility houses laboratories, classrooms, and clinics for the Schools of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences. An occupational therapy community integration suite is located on the second floor. The building features a two-story education wing of school-shared classroom space and five stories of specialized classrooms, labs, and office space. It has three large, auditorium-style classrooms equipped with distance-learning technology.

The University of North Carolina at Charlotte has selected the architectural team of Gantt Huberman Associates of Charlotte and KieranTimberlake Associates of Philadelphia to design the 150,000-sf Center City Building in uptown Charlotte. Housing offices and classrooms for graduate and professional programs, the facility will be funded by $45.8 million from the state of North Carolina. Completion is slated for 2010.

The University of Florida broke ground in January of 2007 on the 500,000-sf Shands Cancer Hospital in Gainesville, Fla. The $388-million facility will accommodate diagnostic and therapeutic oncology services in an nine-story tower with 192 private inpatient beds. The hospital will include an operating suite, a Critical Care Center for trauma and emergency services, and an 800-car parking garage.