Higher Education

Heriot Watt University is planning to construct the National Robotarium in Edinburgh in the United Kingdom. Created in partnership with the University of Edinburgh, the £100 million innovation hub will support research and development on robotics and autonomous systems as well as providing instruction and training facilities for computational science programs. The project is an integral part of the region’s Data Driven Innovation (DDI) initiative that aims to establish the area as the data capital of Europe. Occupancy is expected in 2021. 

The University of Manchester opened the £60 million Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre in December of 2018 in the United Kingdom. Located in the new 91,000-sf Masdar Building on the North campus, the facility will accommodate collaborative materials science research and development with King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) and Khalifa University of Science and Technology.

16 Tech Community Corporation broke ground in December of 2018 on the $30 million Advanced Research and Innovation Facility in Indianapolis. The Indiana Biosciences Research Institute will lease over 67,000 sf on the first three floors of the building to accommodate researchers engaged in the study of diabetes, nutrition, and metabolics. Indiana University School of Medicine will locate the Center for Regenerative Medicine's molecular therapeutics program in 12,000 sf of the facility, which will also house the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership.

The University of Houston-Victoria is building the $28 million Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Building in Victoria, Texas. Designed by SmithGroup, the three-story, 58,464-sf facility will provide robotics and gaming labs, software development suites, motion capture rooms, a 120-seat classroom, and an immersive media lab with a 210-degree screen.

Weber State University opened the renovated Lindquist Hall in December of 2018 in Ogden, Utah. Designed by GSBS Architects, the four-story, 119,322-sf facility provides five labs, 34 classrooms, a 150-seat lecture hall, a computer lab, a testing center, study spaces, and 72 offices for the College of Social & Behavioral Sciences. Lindquist Hall also houses the Olene S. Walker Institute of Politics & Public Service and the Richard Richards Institute for Ethics.

The University of Hawaii - West Oahu opened the $32 million Administration and Allied Health Facility in December of 2018 in Kapolei. Designed by Perkins+Will and KYA Design Group to accommodate interdisciplinary health sciences education, the collaborative 44,000-sf facility provides nine classrooms, a computer lab, two support labs, faculty and administrative offices, and teaching labs for anatomy, cellular biology, microbiology, and organic chemistry.

Georgia Southern University broke ground in December of 2018 on the $50 million Center for Engineering and Research in Statesboro. Designed by SmithGroup and Stevens & Wilkinson to promote interaction and collaboration, the three-story, 135,000-sf facility will provide a centralized home for the departments and disciplines of the Allen E. Paulson College of Engineering and Computing.

The University of Michigan is planning to create the Central Campus Classroom Building in Ann Arbor. Designed by The S/L/A/M Collaborative and Harley Ellis Devereaux, the project includes the renovation and repurposing of the historic Alexander G. Ruthven Museums Building to provide 135,000 gsf of computational research space, a 200-person multipurpose room, and administrative offices.

The University of New Haven is building the Bergami Center for Science, Technology, and Innovation in West Haven, Conn. Designed by Svigals+Partners, the three-story, 44,000-sf facility will provide sophisticated science and engineering labs, collaborative classrooms, a maker space, an atrium, and video production studios. The interdisciplinary building will also include a co-working space for faculty and administrative staff instead of individual offices. Ground was broken on the project in October of 2018 and completion is expected in early 2020.

The Vaccines Manufacturing Innovation Centre is planning to create a £66 million research and production facility in the United Kingdom. Located in the Oxford Science Park, the project will support the development and manufacturing of vaccines for clinical trials and epidemic threat mitigation, as well as the creation of gene therapy technologies and personalized medicine solutions.

The benefits of peer-based learning have led colleges around the country to devote spaces for students to study in groups. Designing these spaces so they actually attract students—making them “sticky”—requires providing the right mix for solo students and small and large groups; the furniture to accommodate them; amenities like ample white boards and well-placed coffee bars; floods of natural light; and ubiquitous access to power for recharging smartphones and laptops.

Harvard University opened HouseZero in December of 2018 in Cambridge, Mass. Acting as a living laboratory for sustainable design and construction, the project features a data-driven infrastructure with nearly 300 embedded sensors that produce 17 million data points in real time each day. Software informed by the house's sensors automatically opens and closes windows, circulating air through cross ventilation and convection flows. Algorithms informed by sensors optimize ventilation in relation to the house's mass, reducing the need for building systems almost entirely.

Mississippi State University broke ground in December of 2018 on the $34 million Richard A. Rula Engineering & Science Complex in Starkville. Designed by Eley Guild Hardy Architects, the 70,000-sf facility will provide teaching and research labs, high bay areas, classrooms, and offices. Featuring exposed building systems to enable the structure to act as a teaching tool, the building will house the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering as well as accommodating programs in chemistry.

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln is planning to build a $5 million, 12,490-sf gnotobiotic mouse vivarium adjacent to its existing rodent facility on the East Campus. Providing labs, procedure rooms, a conference room, a staff locker room, and animal holding space, the germ-free facility is being created by the Nebraska Food for Health Center to support research on the human microbiome. Construction will begin in 2019 with completion expected in summer of 2020.

The University of Georgia broke ground in November of 2018 on the $65 million Interdisciplinary Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (I-STEM) Research Building in Athens. Located on the South Campus, the four-story, 100,000-sf facility will provide collaborative laboratories and support spaces for research programs at the intersection of chemistry, engineering, and materials sciences. The I-STEM building will accommodate more than 30 faculty and 100 graduate students and is slated for completion in summer of 2021.