Higher Education

Pennsylvania State University has selected the Philadelphia office of Gilbane as construction manager for two major projects - the Forest Resources and Food Science buildings. As part of the College of Agricultural Sciences, the Forest Resources Building is 95,000 sf, providing fifty percent more space. The $27.3-million facility includes four teaching laboratories, two technology classrooms, three computer labs, and a 150-seat auditorium.

The University of Pennsylvania has selected Skanska USA Building to construct the new Skirkanich Hall Bioengineering Building in Philadelphia. Skirkanich Hall will be approximately 63,000 sf and will include labs, classrooms, offices, and support facilities that will be connected to the Moore and Towne buildings on campus. Work also includes renovations within the two buildings to accommodate the tie-ins, as well as infrastructure improvements.

Florida International University in Miami has completed a $5.5-million addition and renovation project on Graham Center at the University Park Campus. The 15-month project was comprised of 36,110 sf of new construction including a mutlipurpose assembly space, administration, retail, and food service.  Renovations were carried out to 4,200 sf of existing space, primarily in computer lab areas. The project was designed by MC Harry Associates and constructed by Kaufman Lynn of Boca Raton, Fla.

Huston-Tillotson College in Austin, Texas has completed phase one of a $3 million renovation of the historic Old Administration Building. Project contractor VRW Construction initiated work on the project in January of 2004. The architect for the renovation is Alan Taniguchi Architects & Associates of Austin. The renovation of the first floor is complete; floors two and three will be renovated in later phases.

The University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) broke ground on a $57 million health sciences facility in October 2004. As the first step in UMKC's Hospital Hill master plan, the facility will house the School of Nursing , the School of Pharmacy, and teaching and research space. The architect is Clark Enersen Partners, and Research Facilities Design is providing the laboratory building design services.

Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, has retained The Stubbins Associates and Philadelphia-based Kling to provide architecture and engineering design services for The Cleveland Center for Structural Biology (CCSB) and The Wright Fuel Cell Group facility. The CCSB will house one of only four 900 MHz NMR spectrometers in the country. Once completed, the one-story, 18,500-sf facility will house both CCSB's Nuclear Magnetic Resonance facility and the Advancement Power Institute's Fuel Cell Laboratory.

The University of Georgia has selected Gilbane as the design-builder for the renovation and modernization of its College of Veterinary Medicine's 73,000-sf Animal Health Research Center, a BSL-3 Ag facility in Athens, Ga. The $35-million project includes reconstruction of laboratories, large animal suites, and support spaces to meet current codes; and upgrades to the existing building layout, security, systems, and functions.

The Medical College of Wisconsin and Children's Hospital and Health System are developing a joint 295,000-sf research facility in Wauwatosa, Wis. The $117-million project will be comprised of a two-level facility for laboratory and support services, and two three-story laboratory wings, one for each organization. Construction is slated to begin in late fall of 2004 with the center opening in December 2006.

The University of Central Florida will construct approximately 24 new laboratories at the Florida Photonics Center of Excellence in Orlando. Funded by a $1.5-million grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration, the 12,800-sf addition will be sited in the College of Optics and Photonics facility, increasing the building's footprint to almost 95,800 sf.

St. Johns River Community College has completed construction of the $21-million Thrasher-Horne Center for the Arts on its Orange Park, Fla., campus. The 84,666-sf facility houses two art galleries, a business/tourism center, and a 1,750-seat theater. Designed by Reynolds, Smith and Hills Inc., the building was constructed by Dooley Mack Constructors. The facility took eighteen months to design and permit and just under two years to build.

Santa Clara University is planning to construct a new 194,000-sf library on its Santa Clara, Calif., campus. Funded in part by $17 million in contributions from private donors, the library will feature collaborative spaces for small groups, reading and research rooms, traditional study carrels, open stacks, a special collections archive, and an automated retrieval system enabling the library to store and access over a million volumes. 

Antioch University is planning to construct a 60,000-sf facility for the Campus West extension of its McGregor campus. Anchoring the Business and Education Park in Yellow Springs, Ohio, Campus West will begin construction in June 2005 with a grand opening slated for spring of 2007. Including a central three-story library and reading room, the Campus West facility will be two- and three-stories tall.

Construction recently began on the Biosciences Facility at The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). As an interdisciplinary structure, it will greatly enhance the research mission, extend departmental boundaries, promote sharing of information, and provide an extension to the Biology Building , as well as other science facilities on the campus. WHR Architects worked in association with Mijares Mora Architects on the 99,000-gsf facility which includes research laboratories, a vivarium, aquarium, BSL-3 lab, support areas and office space.

Portland State University (PSU) is constructing the $44.5-million Northwest Center for Engineering, Science and Technology in Portland, Ore. The five-story, 130,000-sf facility will house the Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science, the Intelligent Transportation Systems Laboratory, 50 new teaching and research laboratories, additional classrooms and offices, and an auditorium. Designed by Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership to meet the U.S.

The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library opened in Springfield in October of 2004. Designed by HOK, the library features a 47,000-sf Abraham Lincoln collection containing 1,500 original manuscripts by Lincoln; 12,000 books and pamphlets; 1,200 prints and photographs; paintings and sculptures; and over 200 personal and family items. The facility also houses the Illinois State Historical Society and its collections. The library is the first completed structure in a $115-million complex designed to honor Lincoln.