San Jose State University broke ground in April of 2019 on the $181 million Interdisciplinary Science Building in San José, Calif. Designed by Flad Architects with Research Facilities Design (RFD) as laboratory design consultant, the eight-story, 161,200-sf facility will provide state-of-the-art teaching and research labs, flexible learning environments, collaboration hubs, and administrative offices.
Arizona State University and Mayo Clinic broke ground on the $80 million Health Futures Center in Phoenix in April of 2019. Designed by CO Architects and DFDG Architecture, the 150,000-sf facility will feature a med-tech innovation accelerator, biomedical engineering and informatics research labs, and an innovative education zone.
Simon Fraser University opened the CAD$126 million Sustainable Energy Engineering building in April of 2019 in Surrey, British Columbia. Designed by Revery Architecture with Research Facilities Design (RFD) as laboratory design consultant, the 220,200-sf facility will accommodate programs in renewable energy, sustainable manufacturing, mechatronics, and clean power generation.
Colorado State University opened the $20 million JBS Global Food Innovation Center in April of 2019 in Fort Collins. Designed to promote innovation in food science, nutrition, animal welfare, and food safety, the 36,000-sf facility includes a comprehensive meat harvesting and processing center, a culinary research hub, 200-seat auditorium with a demonstration area, a retail store, and a café.
Auburn University will begin construction in summer of 2019 on the $22 million Advanced Structural Testing Laboratory in Auburn, Ala. The 41,500-sf facility will include a wind testing facility, a concrete materials research lab, a 4,700-cubic-foot geotechnical test chamber, and a high bay lab with floors and walls capable of handling extreme structural testing loads. Completion is expected in summer of 2020.
The University of Wollongong is constructing the Molecular Horizons facility in New South Wales, Australia. Designed by Denton Corker Marshall in association with Jacobs, the AUD$80 million project will feature collaborative research laboratories housing leading-edge microscopy equipment including super-resolution optical microscopes and cryo-electron microscopes. The 75,000-sf structure is being constructed with Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) in a suspended ferrous-free slab to mitigate electromagnetic interference.
Faced with inadequate facilities and insufficient space to accommodate increasing enrollment in its STEM programs, Mercer University in Georgia had to make a decision: Continue using classrooms built in a bygone era and miss valuable opportunities to attract top students and faculty, or construct a new facility that offers opportunities for consolidation, interaction, and collaboration. University leaders chose the latter with the establishment of the $44 million Spearman C. Godsey Science Center, which opened in January 2018.
As a new paradigm for healthcare leadership training in the Coastal Georgia region, the Health Professions Academic Building at Waters College of Health Professions will serve Georgia Southern University’s mission to drive economic and regional workforce development needs. The new building houses state-of-the art simulation facilities, nursing skills and assessment labs, a large multi-purpose space, conference room, classrooms, open collaboration spaces, student study rooms, shared lounge space, and active learning/teaching labs that serve many of the university’s programs, including cardiovascular interventional sciences, radiologic sciences, nuclear medicine, medical laboratory science, respiratory therapy, and communication sciences and disorders.
The University of Massachusetts Amherst opened the $62 million Business Innovation Hub in April of 2019. Designed by BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group) with Goody Clancy as architect of record, the 72,000-sf project represents an expansion and partial renovation of the Isenberg School of Management. Featuring flexible collaboration and social spaces, the technology-rich circular structure consolidates Isenberg’s faculty and staff in a single location to promote connectivity.
Misericordia University broke ground in April of 2019 on a $45 million expansion of the Henry Science Center in Dallas Township, Pa. The three-story, 57,400-sf addition will provide classrooms, an electronics fabrication lab, a cadaver suite for the study of anatomy and physiology, and ten teaching labs for biology, chemistry, and physics. The project will also include a cold room for molecular physics experiments, an organic chemistry lab with a 300 megahertz NMR instrument, and vivarium space for small mammals, invertebrates, and aquatics.
The University of Michigan opened the $261 million Biological Science Building in April of 2019 in Ann Arbor. Designed by SmithGroup and Ennead Architects to accommodate 90 principal investigators and their teams, the interdisciplinary building offers 84 wet and dry research labs arranged in open neighborhoods for optimal flexibility.
The University of Cincinnati opened the $68 million headquarters of the Gardner Neuroscience Institute in April of 2019. Integrating research, education, and outpatient care, the four-story, 114,000-sf facility houses four clinic modules with 14 exam rooms in each for optimal flexibility. The project also offers a 16-bay infusion department, procedure rooms, an imaging suite, an auditorium, a rehabilitation therapy center with an outdoor terrace, a patient lounge, a café, and an underground parking garage.
Pennsylvania State University dedicated the $144 million Chemical and Biomedical Engineering Building in April of 2019 in University Park. Designed by HOK, the six-story, 194,100-sf (109,100-asf) facility houses classrooms, conference rooms, collaboration spaces, instrumentation suites, a student commons, a 150-seat auditorium, and open labs arranged in neighborhoods to promote interaction. Transparent glass walls in interior corridors put science on display and integrated magnetic whiteboards encourage students and faculty to share ideas.
The University of Massachusetts Amherst opened the $101 million Physical Sciences Building in April of 2019. Designed by Wilson HGA, the 95,000-sf facility can accommodate 20 faculty-led research groups with a total of 130 reconfigurable bench positions. Supporting scientific discovery in organic chemistry, materials science, and condensed matter physics, the building provides open research labs, extensive core support labs, offices, and collaboration areas.
The University of Illinois broke ground in April of 2019 on the $75 million Classroom Instructional Building in Urbana. Providing 24 instructional spaces for programs in engineering, computer science, math, and statistics, the facility will feature a Greek-style round classroom, a distance-learning classroom, and team learning rooms with flexible furniture. The public-private project will be delivered by Vermilion Development, Campbell Coyle Real Estate, Provident Group, and Pepper Construction.
