Higher Education

The University of Maryland has broken ground on its $124-million, 360,000-sf Baltimore dental school. The building is slated for occupancy in 2005.

Indiana University has selected Flad & Associates to design a new 142,000-sf multidisciplinary science facility for their Bloomington campus. The new scientific research building, currently in the early stages of programming, will bring together several areas of science into one facility. The space will be designed to support the full spectrum of sciences including biology, chemistry, cognitive science, physics and biochemistry.

Clark University has selected Waltham-based Genesis Planners to design a new 30,000-sf field house and athletic fields at Granger Field in Worcester. Including locker rooms and training facilities for outdoor athletic teams and recreational sports, the $7.5-million facility features a 16,000-sf multipurpose practice space.

Ground was broken on Saint Mary's College's new Syufy Performing Arts Center in May. The 7,000-sf building will house programs in dance and music in addition to providing space for individual and group instrument practice. A scene design and storage facility is included in the project. The building, slated for completion in 2003, is named after regent and trustee Raymond J. Syufy.

Cuyamaca College in El Cajon has completed its new 10,500-sf, $3.5-million child development center. Designed by San Diego-based NTD Architects, the facility was built by La Mesa, Calif., contractor Kvaas Construction Co.

New liberal arts institution Southern Catholic College contracted the HOK Planning Group, a landscape architectural and urban design firm based in Atlanta, to develop the master plan for a mixed-use pedestrian-oriented campus. A subsidiary of Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum Inc. of St.

Southwestern College is building a $22-million project referred to as Education Village on  3.3 acres purchased from the Community Development Commission. The National City project is part of a collaboration of Southwestern and San Diego State University (SDSU) to provide lower level courses for students transferring from Southwestern to SDSU. The development will consist of two buildings totalling 72,000 sf. The 25,000-sf building will house the San Diego County Office of Education.

The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) is planning a new student housing project. Phase one, a $16-million, 500-bed complex, will be built in summer of 2002. Phase two consists of a $25-million, 750-room project. Phase three includes an additional 500 rooms. UTSA, San Antonio’s only major public university, hopes to change its status as primarily a commuter school with the new dormitory facilities. The University is currently engaged in an expansion totalling over $175 million in new construction, half of which is devoted to a new science building.

Montgomery College of Rockville has selected Einhorn Yaffee Prescott, Architecture & Engineering PC, a firm with local offices in Boston, to provide comprehensive master planning for the college’s Rockville, Takoma Park, and Germantown campuses.

The Law School Admissions Council (LSAT) will break ground on its new 85,000-sf headquarters in late summer of 2002. Located on seven company-owned acres in Newton, Penn., adjacent to its current 48,000-sf operations, the facility will feature 54 underground parking spaces. The majority of a proposed $20-million bond will fund the headquarters, which will be designed by Edison, N.J.-based architectural firm Rothe Johnson Fantacone. Construction will be completed within a year.

Georgia Tech has selected Holder Construction Co. and Hardin Construction Co. of Atlanta to build the new DuPree College of Management to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification standards as established by the U.S. Green Building Council. The 189,000-sf facility is part of Midtown's $180-million Technology Square Complex slated for completion in July of 2003. The cost of sustainable construction adds a minimum of 5 percent to traditional construction costs.

The University of Iowa, Iowa City has selected Boston-based Einhorn Yaffee Prescott, Architecture & Engineering PC in conjunction with OPN Architects of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to engineer restoration of the university's historic Old Capitol Building’s golden dome. The dome sustained extensive fire damage in November of 2001.

American University is building the Park Bethesda Apartments, a student housing complex at the site of the former National Institutes of Health offices in Bethesda. Planned as a luxury apartment complex, the upscale development now under construction will house approximately 730 graduate and law students in 258 units. The 305,000-sf complex, designed by architect R.A. Ponte & Associates, will include studio, one-bedroom, two-bedroom, and two-story, three-bedroom units.

The University of Texas Health Science Center (UTHSC) has proposed the construction of the University of Texas Sports Science Institute, a world-class, multi-disciplinary research center for sports science. In addition to UTHSC, the project would be sponsored by the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Texas at San Antonio. The San Antonio campus would emphasize education, research, medicine, and psychology as they relate to sports; and community wellness. The project is awaiting approval in May from the University of Texas Board of Regents.

Johns Hopkins University, located in Baltimore, plans to expand its Shady Grove satellite campus in Rockville with a 130,000-sf building, the third at the 35-acre site. The facility is to house classrooms, administrative offices, and computer labs, as well as outside tenants who work or partner with the University. Spaulding & Slye Colliers was selected by the University to develop the new structure. Future expansion at the site will also be planned by the company.