Higher Education

Johns Hopkins University recently dedicated the new 50,000-gsf Academic and Research Building for its Montgomery County campus at the Shady Grove Life Sciences Center in Rockville. The three-story structure features state-of-the-art research and education facilities: four computer labs; 22 "smart" classrooms configured for video conferencing, multimedia presentations, and high-speed transmission of large databases; a coffee house; a bookstore; and student meeting spaces.

Kutztown University has plans to renovate and expand its science teaching facilities. The Pennsylvania Department of General Services has contracted with STV Architects to design the $14 million Kutztown University Science Center. The Boehm and Grim Science Buildings will undergo renovation and a 70,000-sf addition to the Boehm building will be constructed. The center will accommodate and promote new technologies and will encompass the biology, chemistry, marine science, physics, geography, geology, physical science, and astronomy departments.

University of California, Berkeley, has plans for a new $85 million, 240,000-sf interdisciplinary science research building to replace the seismically unsafe Stanley Hall. The state-of-the-art structure will house teaching labs and support functions for many disciplines: structural biology, bioengineering, chemical biology, computation and theoretical biology, and magnetic imaging. The architect for the project will be Portland, Ore.-based Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership.

University of Maryland, Baltimore County, has selected Boston-based Einhorn Yaffee Prescott, Architecture & Engineering, P.E. (EYP), to renovate the 137,000-sf undergraduate Chemistry/Biochemistry Building. The renovation will increase the number and quality of teaching and research labs, and provide departmental and faculty offices, lab support areas, and interaction areas for students and faculty.

Mount Holyoke College, as part of its new master plan, will transform its 19th-century gymnasium building into the campus hub for student life. Miller Dyer Spears, based in Boston, is designing the three-story Blanchard Campus Center. While preserving the historic character of the structure, a coffee bar, cybercafe, gameroom, art gallery, college store, mailroom, info center, and student lounges will be featured on the main level. A two-story addition will expand dining capacity to 350 seats and will double as a large performance and events space.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Office of Real Estate has plans for a $46-million, 185,000-sf building at a 7.5-acre site in Cambridge next to MIT and Technology Square. The project will gut an historic 1830s 135,000-sf building and build a new five-story, 50,000-sf adjacent structure with plans to lease the entire lab/office facility to a biotechnology company. Surface parking for 272 vehicles is included in the plan. Completion is anticipated in 2002. The project construction manager is Barr & Barr.

Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, housed in a state-of-the-art  instruction facility in a former streetcar repair building called the Car Barn, now has plans for a new $55-million, 200,000-sf business school building. The structure, part of the university master plan, will accommodate undergraduate and graduate students, non-degree executive development students, and offices for the faculty. The university expects to begin a three-year construction project in September on a large dormitory complex.

Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering broke ground in May 2000 for its new high-tech campus on a 70-acre site in Needham. Phase one construction, slated for completion in fall 2001, will include a classroom/laboratory building, a student center, administrative building, and residence hall. Phase two will encompass four additional structures--a lab building and three residence halls--to be completed at a later date.

Harvard Medical School has plans for a new $250 million, 435,000-sf research building on a 3.3-acre site in Boston. The structure will house biomedical labs, accessory offices, and related animal facilities in 409,000 sf of space. An auditorium/cafeteria and building amenities will be housed in an additional 26,000 sf. The estimated completion date is the second quarter of 2003.

Delaware Biotechnology Institute, a collaboration between the state of Delaware, the University of Delaware, Delaware State University, and private businesses, has a $14 million research facility under construction at Newark's Delaware Technology Park. Construction is expected to be complete in November 2000 at the 70,000-sf facility where up to 50 researchers will be accommodated. Hercules Inc., a Wilmington, Del., specialty chemical firm, pledged $1 million to the project.

American College of Physicians-American Society of Internal Medicine (ACP-ASIM) is planning to expand its headquarters on Independence Mall in Center City Philadelphia. ACP-ASIM will build a new 150,000-sf, $37 million headquarters adjacent to its existing facility to accommodate its expanding programs and staff. Philadelphia-based Ballinger, architects and engineers, will link the new nine-story structure to the existing building at every floor through a glass-enclosed connector.

Planning and Designing is underway for UC Merced, a new 2,000-acre campus located in California. This new $250-million research university will use digital technology to create an educational network for students in the San Joaquin Valley. Completion is scheduled for 2004.

Wheelock College, a 112-year-old private liberal arts college, is doing a complete $20 million renovation of its classroom building and adding both classroom and faculty office space to its activities building. For further expansion, the college also will buy Hebrew College's nearby Brookline campus, which includes a small classroom facility and a Guilded Age mansion. Hebrew College will relocate to a new $26 million, seven-acre campus currently under construction in Newton, Mass., next fall.

Bentley College will renovate Kresge Hall--a five-story, 54 unit dormitory. Bentley has retained Needham, Mass.-based Bowdoin Construction Corp. to handle the project, which will cosmetically upgrade all dorm rooms and significantly enhance space usage.

St. Olaf College's new 190,000-sf facility--the Buntrock Commons Campus Center--has completed the design phase. The architect is Sasaki Associates Inc., based in Watertown, Mass.