Higher Education

Nottingham Trent University broke ground in October of 2020 on a £15 million facility for the Institute of Health & Allied Professions in Nottingham in the United Kingdom. Located on the Clifton campus, the 34,000-sf building will provide simulation training environments such as mock hospital wards, emergency rooms, consultation suites, and home care settings. High-fidelity manikins will enable students to practice clinical skills in real-world settings.

Wayne State University opened the 100,000-sf STEM Innovation Learning Center in Detroit in October of 2020. Designed as a campus hub for project-based learning and discovery, the interdisciplinary facility features flexible classrooms, wet and dry teaching labs, maker and hacker spaces, a 3D printing lab, and a student commons. Small groups can meet and interact in collaboration zones with integrated whiteboards and projection screens.

Marmon Plumbing & Refrigeration has partnered with Micron Pure, a subsidiary of Hecto Group, to create the CerroZone™ system for the mitigation of airborne SARS-CoV-2. The continuous indoor air purification system, which has been tested at the University of Missouri's Laboratory for Infectious Disease Research, reduces 99 percent of live SARS-CoV-2 in a single pass in under 30 seconds.

California State University, Dominguez Hills completed construction in September of 2020 on the $71.5 million Science & Innovation Building in Carson. Designed by HGA Architects and Engineers with Research Facilities Design (RFD) as laboratory design consultant, the 87,000-sf facility provides classrooms, labs, and faculty offices to support programs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Indiana University of Pennsylvania broke ground in September of 2020 on the $90 million Kopchick Hall in Indiana, Pa. Designed by PWWG Architects, the highly flexible facility will provide the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics with 16 reconfigurable teaching labs, 43 research lab modules, three classrooms, and two multifunctional computer labs.

The University of Washington and Gonzaga University broke ground in September of 2020 on a $60 million medical education hub in Spokane. Supporting the Regional Health Partnership initiative, the 90,000-sf facility will offer classrooms, interactive learning environments, research labs, an anatomy suite, and administrative offices. McKinstry, the developer of the public-private project, will own and manage the building, which will provide leased space for the UW School of Medicine and Gonzaga's programs in human physiology and nursing.

Johnson Controls opened the $37 million OpenBlue Innovation Center at the National University of Singapore in September of 2020. Located in the School of Design and Environment's SDE4 building, the 2,600-sf facility is a living laboratory for the development of customizable, contact-free applications built on Johnson Controls' unifying digital technology suite, OpenBlue.

The Ohio State University is planning to construct a $1.79 billion inpatient hospital at Wexner Medical Center in Columbus. Providing 820 beds in private rooms, the 1.9 million-sf complex will integrate exceptional patient care environments with leading-edge facilities for research, medical education, and clinical training. Designed by HDR, the hospital will include an emergency department, surgical suites, an imaging center, a neonatal intensive care unit, and a 1,900-space parking garage.

Front Range Community College opened the $35 million Health Care Careers Center (HCCC) in September of 2020 in Fort Collins, Colo. Designed by Hord Coplan Macht, the 61,000-sf facility offers technology-rich classrooms, teaching labs, collaboration spaces, and group learning venues for programs in nursing and allied health professions.

The University of Tennessee at Martin broke ground on the $65 million Latimer Engineering and Science Building in September of 2020. Designed to foster cross-disciplinary innovation and discovery, the 120,000-sf STEM facility will offer teaching labs, student research labs, and classrooms for the departments of mathematics, statistics, computer science, engineering, chemistry, and physics. The three-story structure will also include an entrepreneurship hub and collaborative project areas. Occupancy is expected in fall of 2022.

Avista Development and McKinstry opened the $40 million Catalyst Building in Spokane in September of 2020. Designed by Michael Green Architecture, the five-story, 159,000-sf facility was built by Katerra using cross-laminated timber (CLT) structural components. Certified by the International Living Future Institute, the zero-carbon, net-zero building features a highly efficient heating and cooling system, a sophisticated building envelope, LED lighting, and integrated energy management technologies.

Bowling Green State University dedicated the $44.2 million Robert W. and Patricia A. Maurer Center in September of 2020 in Bowling Green, Ohio. Designed by The Collaborative and Perkins+Will, the 89,800-sf project included the construction of a 50,000-sf addition and the renovation of Hanna Hall to create a new home for the Schmidthorst College of Business.

Northwest Vista College broke ground on the $34 million STEM Building in September of 2020 in San Antonio. Designed by Overland Partners, the 52,550-sf facility will accommodate innovative programs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Offering project-based learning environments and flexible, general-purpose classrooms, the multidisciplinary structure will include teaching labs, tutoring suites, outdoor classrooms, and faculty and administrative offices.

The University of Minnesota Twin Cities opened the $108.6 million Health Sciences Education Center in September of 2020 in Minneapolis. Designed by Perkins+Will and The S/L/A/M Collaborative to accommodate interprofessional education programs, the 202,000-sf facility provides active learning classrooms, a teaching visualization lab, a maker space, study areas, a faculty commons, and a sophisticated library.

Cape Cod Community College broke ground on the $38 million Frank & Maureen Wilkens Science and Engineering Center in August of 2020 in West Barnstable, Mass. The two-story, 37,000-sf STEM facility will feature interactive classrooms, technology-rich labs, a maker space, gathering areas, and flexible multiuse learning venues. Designed as an innovation hub for the creation and commercialization of new technologies, the center will encourage regional economic growth through collaborative training programs with industry partners.