Higher Education

The University of Saskatchewan is planning to begin construction on its Academic Health Sciences Centre in Saskatoon by July of 2007. Estimated to cost between $140 million and $160 million, the facility is expected to be comprised of two buildings. The first would be attached to the existing Health Sciences structure and would house BSL-2 laboratory space and an animal research facility. The second building would house a 500-seat lecture hall, meeting rooms, a new school of public health, and a relocated health sciences library.

The University of Texas at San Antonio opened the 10.6-million Margaret Batts Tobin Laboratory Building in November of 2005. Designed by FKP Architects, the 22,000-sf BSL-3 facility will support infectious disease research with six biology research labs, a computer media center, and a conference room. The contractor for the project was Vaughn Construction.

Miami Dade College broke ground on a new $25-million science complex in November 2005. Located on the school's North Campus in Miami, the three-story, 73,384-sf facility will house classrooms, administrative and faculty offices, and a greenhouse. The two laboratory floors will accommodate research and teaching facilities for astronomy, biology, chemistry, and earth sciences.

The University of California at Riverside is planning to construct the 110,000-sf New Genomics Building. Slated for completion by spring of 2008, the facility will provide the University's Genomics Institute with state-of-the-art research laboratories for faculty, researchers, and support staff. The design architect for the project is Shepley Bulfinch Richardson and Abbott (SBRA) working in association with RBB Architects of Los Angeles.

Stanford University will initiate $75 million in construction work to accommodate a new laser that will be housed at the Linear Accelerator Center in Palo Alto, Calif. The project team of the San Jose office of Turner Construction and engineers Hatch Mott MacDonald are expected to begin work in early 2006. The laser is slated for operational completion in early spring 2009. The cost of new equipment and modifications to existing equipment needed to build the laser itself is over $300 million.

Texas Christian University is initiating a $100-million construction project on its Fort Worth, Texas, campus. A campus commons comprised of a university union and four residence halls will begin construction in summer 2006. The project will house a conference hall, dining facilities, space for campus activities, and dormitory space for 600 to 650 students. Funded separately, the School of Education will undergo a $10.5-million renovation and construction project.

The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth broke ground on a new 22,000-sf research and laboratory facility in fall of 2005. Designed by ARC/Architectural Resources Cambridge, the two-story, $9-million project will be built as an extension to the Violette Building. The first floor has been designed with flexible, modular laboratories to accommodate chemistry, biology, psychology, engineering, and a vivarium. The second floor will house containment laboratories for research.

Brown University has received $11 million in funding from a renewal of the National Institutes of Health's Center of Biomedical Research Excellence Grant. In addition to funding research projects, the grant will create a bioinformatics core facility for conducting database analysis. A genomics core facility and a transgenic core facility for creating genetically altered mice, created by the previous NIH grant, will also be supported by the funding.

The University of Kentucky will complete the $17-million Center for Pharmaceutical Science and Technology on the 735-acre Coldstream Research Campus in Lexington in February of 2006. The center is one of two in the nation approved by the FDA to manufacture small drug batches for human trials. Additionally, private developer Kale Roscoe of Michigan is planning to construct two five-story buildings housing offices and labs at the research park.

Eckerd College has selected Cannon Design as the architect for a new wellness center and recreational complex on the college's Boca Raton, Fla., campus. Planned as a recreation and fitness village composed of smaller buildings, the 30,000-sf facility will feature three two-story pods connected on both levels by walkways, terraces, and decks. The student life complex will include expanded facilities for dining, retail, and recreation spaces.

The University of South Florida-Lakeland is planning to develop a $200-million campus and research park on 500 acres located between Orlando and Tampa in Lakeland, Fla. The 1 milllion-square foot campus will be accommodate 16,000-students, dorm space for 500, and 4,500 parking spaces when it opens in 2009. The project will include office and retail spce.

The University of Connecticut dedicated its new 226,000-sf Pharmacy/Biology Building on October 21, 2005. The 226,000-sf facility was constructed with a cold room on every floor and houses laboratory and office space for the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and the Department of Physiology and Neurobiology. The School of Pharmacy is also located in the building in a wing featuring classrooms, labs, offices, conference rooms, and a library.

Franklin & Marshall College celebrated the groundbreaking of the $45-million Ann & Richard Barshinger Life Sciences & Philosophy Building in October 2005.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison opened its new 20,000-sf AIDS Vaccine Research Laboratory in the University Research Park on Sept. 16, 2005. The remodeled facility will house between 40 and 45 scientists and graduate students engaged in molecular biology, cell biology, and protein biochemistry research.

The University of Tennessee is developing the UT-Baptist Research Park in Memphis, Tenn. The 10-acre campus will consist of 1.2 million sf of bioscience laboratory, education, research, and incubator space.  Baptist Memorial Health Care donated its property in the Memphis Medical District to create the campus. A 924,000-sf building will be imploded to enable new construction to begin in the second quarter of 2006. The project will be built in six phases over ten years.