Higher Education

The University of Maryland, Baltimore has issued a request for proposals to develop the second building on its bioscience campus in downtown Baltimore. Construction on the 110,000-sf facility is expected to begin in spring 2005. Construction of a 600-car parking garage at the site is slated to begin by the end of October 2004. Buildout on the first 120,000-sf building on the bioscience campus, housing office and lab space, will be completed by summer 2005. 

The University of San Francisco will initiate a $18.5-million expansion and renovation of its School of Business and Management's McLaren Center. Designed by SMWM, the facility will feature state-of-the-art technology including videoconferencing and specialized classrooms for case studies. A 26,000-sf addition connected to the existing building will be constructed, doubling the current facility's footprint.

The University at Buffalo is developing the National Science Foundation George E. Brown Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation Facility at Ketter Hall on the University's north campus in Amherst, N.Y. The $21.2-million facility, part of the National Science Foundation's overall $81.9-million project to improve understanding of earthquakes, features dual shake tables capable of real-time seismic testing of structures up to 30 feet high and 120 feet long.

Texas Southern University will break ground on a four-story, $25-million science facility in Houston on October 7, 2004. The steel-framed, 165,000-sf building will house chemistry, math, and biology research and teaching laboratories for faculty and graduate students. The project team includes architect 3D International, general contractor Lyda Swinterton Buildings, and program manager KAI Texas. Completion is expected in January 2006.

The University of North Florida recently opened the 130,000-sf Science and Engineering Building on its main campus in Jacksonville, Fla. Programmed, planned and designed by Reynolds, Smith & Hills, this state-of-the-art facility provides laboratories, classrooms, offices, and demonstration lecture halls serving the College of Computing Sciences & Engineering and the College of Arts & Sciences. Specific design elements include:

Boston University Medical Center, Boston University, and the city of Boston celebrated the topping off of the eight-story BioSquare 3 in Boston in September 2004. Being the third lab and research facility on the 14-acre campus, the 160,000-sf building is 60 percent pre-leased to Boston University and Boston University Medical Center. Completion is expected in fall 2005.

Private college preparatory school Trinity Academy of Raleigh  is initiating construction  of its new $19.2-million campus in north Raleigh, N.C. Housing a library, labs, classrooms, performing arts areas, and fields, the 197,000-sf campus will accommodate approximately 840 students. The first $2.7-million construction phase will include a $1.5-million gymnasium. The project will be developed in four phases.

Portland State University opened a $47.5 million, 217,000-sf student housing complex on September 18, 2004. The two-tower, ten story development is comprised of dormitory space, university services, and ground-floor retail. Built as a public/private partnership with Gerding/Edlen Development, the Broadway complex consists of 383 residential units, department offices, classrooms, conference rooms, and a 24-hour computer lab. The facility will feature a 15,000-sf eco-roof that will be maintained by engineering students and faculty.

Friends University in Wichita, Kan. will dedicate the $8.5 million, 60,000-sf Green Residence Hall on October 16, 2004. Several houses owned by the university were demolished to provide space for the new student housing facility.

Lindenwood University has selected Hastings+Chivetta to design its $30-million fine and performing arts center sited on 40 acres in St. Charles, Mo. The 130,000-sf facility will house a 1,200-seat auditorium; a gallery; a 100- to 150-seat theater; office space; classrooms; band and practice rooms; and space for the university's televsion station. Completion is expected in two and a half years.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute opened the $80 million, 218,000-sf Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies on its Troy, N.Y., campus on September 10, 2004. The facility will accommodate research in drug synthesis, tissue repair and replacement, and biosensors and monitoring. Including 67,000-sf of lab and lab support space and 104,000-sf of public and administrative space, the four-story facility was designed by architects Burt Hill and Bohlin Cywinkski Jackson.

The University of Montevallo has completed construction on its new 89,000-sf student activity center in Montevallo, Ala. Designed by McKee and Associates of Montgomery, the $11.3 million facility houses a 3,000-seat convocation and concert area, raquetball courts, exercise rooms, a walking track, a 25-yard indoor swimming pool, and athletic department offices. The project contractor was McCrory Building Co. of Birmingham.

Denton-based Texas Women's University  will initiate an expansion of its Houston Center urban campus in 2005. A $3-million gift from the Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation will enable construction of a 10-story, 202,000-sf facility housing several 120-seat lecture halls, a 250-seat auditorium, classrooms, seminar rooms, video conferencing, distance learning, and the Nelda C. Stark College of Nursing.

Montgomery College has selected Foulger-Pratt to develop a potential $150 million life science and technology park on its Germantown, Md., campus. With a focus on developing wet lab space, the 35-acre parcel will house 700,000 sf to 800,000 sf of offices and lab space. The estimated development cost is between $100 million and $150 million; completion of the first phase is slated for early 2007. A technology incubator will be developed on a five acre section of the site.

Cal State Hayward will initiate construction in fall of 2004 on a $23-million, 67,000-sf Business and Technology Center . Slated for occupancy in 2006, the building will house classroom space for education and engineering students, as well as the Business and Economics Department. State-of-the-art technology will include satellite links to the university’s overseas campuses and built-in wireless and fiber-optic communications systems.