Higher Education

Shanghai Scienceland, China's first major science museum, has chosen the Los Angeles office of RTKL to design the interiors of the two-building facility. Five galleries, a large format theater, 3D dome theater, as well as an interior courtyard, restaurants, shops, and a multifunction hall will be housed in the main building.

The second building will accommodate a research library, labs, and support functions along with housing for visiting scholars. A bridge link will connect the two buildings.

FlightSafety Boeing Training International has chosen New York-based Parsons Brinckerhoff to provide architecture, engineering, and construction services for a new $73 million, 32,800-sf flight training center near London's Luton Airport. Ground was broken in late October 1999. The facility will house offices, lecture rooms, and training facilities including a four-bay flight simulator training center. Completion is anticipated in fall 2000.

University of California San Diego Medical Center is remodeling its four-story, 28,000-sf Bachman Building. Two San Diego companies are involved in the renovation: Roesling Nakamura Architects Inc. and Kvaas Construction Co.

George Mason University's Fairfax campus may be the recipient of $31 million from the state's proposed 2000-2002 budget. Funds would be used to complete capital improvements already begun at the campus.

A $22 million, 100,000-sf project at the Manassas campus awaits funding as well. This project would construct conference rooms and classrooms for existing biotech and research facilities.

Simmons College has announced a three-year, $51 million expansion of its campus at Fenway. A new five-story, 60,000-sf academic building will house the graduate school of social work, new library, and technology resource center. The $21 million facility is scheduled for completion by fall 2002. The school's residence halls will also be upgraded.

University of the Arts has chosen Arena & Co. as general contractor and construciton manager for its new student residence hall. The dorm will accommodate 400 students.

Emory University's Winship Cancer Institute has plans to expand with a new 226,000-sf, $56 million comprehensive cancer facility. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2000.

National Museum of the American Indian, the Smithsonian's tenth museum on Capital Mall, began construction in September. The new five-story, $110 million museum is scheduled to open in 2002 and will focus on American Indians in the Western Hemisphere, including over 1,000 Indian communities.

University of Texas at San Antonio has begun construction of a $30 million, 127,500-sf building to expand its facilities for day, evening, and weekend classes. Classrooms, labs, student services facilities, and administrative/faculty offices will be housed in the new four-level structure. Completion is anticipated in early 2001.

San Diego State University plans to break ground in March on two six-story residence towers and a two-story dining/commons facility. The residence halls will total 200,000 sf. Douglas E. Barnhart Inc. of San Diego won the design-build contract.

University of California, San Francisco, broke ground in October 1999 on a $1.5 billion biotechnology campus at a 303-acre site in Mission Bay, where Stanford University plans to break ground in 2000 on its own $200 million, 225,000-sf Clark Center for Biomedical Engineering-Mission Bay.

Virginia Tech may receive $12 million in funding from the proposed state budget to build a biomedical center and establish a biotech research center. The University of Virginia is also targeted in the proposed budget for $2.5 million to convert an abandoned hospital to a technology center at its Wise Campus.

Hebrew College will relocate its 2,000-student campus from Brookline, Mass., to a 7-acre site in Newton. $26 million of construction is scheduled for completion by 2001, including academic and administrative buildings, a student center and library. A new dormitory will be built at a later date.

Stanford University has a new four-story Center for Clinical Science Research, designed by Ove Arup & Partners of San Francisco to withstand a major earthquake. The facility incorporates base isolators designed by Earthquake Protection Systems Inc. of Richmond, Calif.

Santa Clara University has plans to build a new multimillion-dollar business school campus and library. The projects will be officially announced in March 2000, the 150th anniversary of the institution.