Higher Education

Washington University broke ground in early October 2000 on the university's Uncas A. Whitaker Hall for Biomedical Engineering building, designed by Boston-based architects Shepley Bulfinch Richardson and Abbott. The new three-story facility will include a flexible laboratory wing comprised of 22,000 sf of wet lab space and 12,500 sf of procedure equipment and environmental areas (which will include a nanofabrication lab, vivarium, electron microscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance suites). A three-story atrium will connect the laboratory wing with faculty office pods and classrooms.

Ida Price Middle School and Orchard Middle School in San Jose have worked with Saramark Inc., a San Jose construction company, to upgrade their science classrooms. To ensure state approval, Saramark adhered closely to the California Department of Architecture's standards and regulations for classrooms, school labs, seismic retrofitting, storage of chemicals, ventilation, and plumbing.

University of California-San Diego (UCSD) and the University of California-Irvine (UCI) have received funding to launch the California Institute of Telecommunications and Information Technology, dubbed Cal-(IT)2, an interdisciplinary center to research telecommunications and information technology. The $300 million project will build a 215,000-sf at UCSD and a smaller facility at UCI. Construction of the UCSD building is scheduled for completion in 2004.

The University of California-San Diego (UCSD) has completed construction of the Preuss School, a 74,780-sf charter school for low-income sixth to twelfth grade students on seven acres in the university's East Campus area. Construction began in fall 1999 on five classroom buildings, an administration building, library, and multipurpose gymnasium. The new science building has four lab stations that are supplied with utilities and lab equipment. The stage in the new gym is equipped with sound and lighting capabilities.

St. Joseph's University has a broad range of projects it is considering for construction over the next decade as part of its overall campus master plan at the City Avenue campus. Student housing and a multi-tier parking garage are most urgently needed. In addition, a new convocation center, sports arena, and classroom space would serve a total of 7,000 students. Within three to five years, the university expects to begin construction on some or all of the projects.

Stanford University expects approval on its land use plan to build as many as 3,018 units to house students, faculty, and staff over the coming ten years. Additional construction on the campus includes 2 million sf of classrooms, labs, and other academic facilities. The new construction would take place on 1,800 acres that have already been developed at the campus.

California School of Arts and Crafts has plans for a new 120-student residence hall at its campus in Oakland. The three-story structure will be connected to a circular facility providing common-use areas. Mark Horton/Architecture of San Francisco was selected to design the new facility. Construction is scheduled to start in spring 2001, with move-in in fall 2002.

The Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering has selected Boston-based Barr and Barr Inc. for two new building projects. The college is planning a 76,000-sf administration building and a 56,000-sf residence hall to accommodate 190 students.

Tufts University's Dowling Hall received an Excellence in Construction award from the Massachusetts Chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors for work done by the design-builder, Newton, Mass.-based Kay Construction and Cambridge-based architectural firm, ADD Inc. The student services center and the campus safety office are housed in the seven-story, 210,000-sf building. A 152-ft glycol-heated bridge links the building with the university's upper campus.

The University of California-San Diego (UCSD) will work with the Salk Institute to construct the West Coast's largest interdisciplinary brain-imaging research facility. Construction began in November 2000 on the $13.5 million, 6,500-sf structure next to UCSD's School of Medicine. Four functional magnetic resonance imaging machines'two for human studies and two for animals'will be housed in the new structure which is scheduled for completion in October 2001.The building was designed by RBB Architects Inc. of Los Angeles. San Diego-based Soltek Pacific is the general contractor.

The University of Houston has plans for a $45 million expansion and renovation of the M.D. Anderson Library, scheduled to start in late 2001. The architect for the project is Shepley Bulfinch Richardson and Abbott in association with Houston-based Morris Architects.

University of North Texas Health Science Center has plans for a $40 million, 180,000-sf incubator for biotech and pharmaceutical companies. The initial building would be shared with the center's School of Public Health, which is in need of additional space for classrooms, faculty, and computer labs. The plan for the incubator includes production facilities, labs, equipment, and opportunities to collaborate with the researchers. Depending on the growth of the incubator, a second 200,000-sf structure may be constructed exclusively for the biotech center.

Boston College's Higgins Hall is undergoing renovation and expansion that began in 1998. The original 77,000-sf facility will be expanded by 42,000 sf during the three-year, $80 million modernization which is designed to enhance collaborative and project-based learning. Higgins Hall houses the college's biology and physics departments.

Vista Community College will consolidate several locations at a new $35 million campus to be built on a half-block site near Berkeley's downtown Bay Area Rapid Transit station. Ratcliff Associates, based in Emeryville, Calif., has begun the design for the 160,000-sf building which will accommodate the college's 5,000 students.

Hamilton College has selected the Boston-based Einhorn Yaffee Prescott, Architecture & Engineering PC to design a new 180,000-sf unified science building for the campus.