Higher Education

Active learning, collaborative spaces, real-world connections, a purposeful focus on “soft skills,” and a grounding in liberal arts and sciences all combine in Jefferson’s Nexus Learning approach to develop and support work-ready graduates. “Nexus Learning is based on a suite of strategies that ensures our graduates are prepared to succeed in their professions or graduate school,” says Jeffrey Ashley, PhD, chemistry professor and director of the Center for Teaching Innovation and Nexus Learning at Jefferson (Philadelphia University + Thomas Jefferson University). Nexus Learning appears to be on target in this mission, with 97 percent of undergraduates working in their disciplines or accepted to graduate school within four months of graduation.

Wittenberg University is building the $53 million Health, Wellness & Athletics Complex in Springfield, Ohio. The 260,000-sf facility will provide technology-rich classrooms for academic programs in exercise science and sports management, faculty offices, training areas for sports teams, locker rooms, and a fitness center with a 7,000-sf weight room. The complex will feature a six-lane, 300-meter indoor track, a 100-yard artificial turf surface, and courts for tennis, volleyball, and basketball.

The University of Birmingham broke ground in August of 2018 on a 136,500-sf facility for the School of Engineering in the United Kingdom. Located on the Edgbaston campus, the building will provide 26,900 sf of dedicated research space for the UK Rail Research and Innovation Network (UKRRIN). Designed by Associated Architects to promote innovation through collaboration with industry partners, the facility will include labs, design studios, and meeting spaces arranged around an atrium containing flexible learning environments.

UT Southwestern Medical Center and Texas Health Resources are partnering to build the $270 million Texas Health Hospital Frisco. The 325,000-sf complex will offer an 80-bed acute care hospital with a 24/7 emergency department, surgical services, women’s services, and a neonatal intensive care unit. A 120,000-sf medical office will accommodate multiple medical specialties including space for the Peter O’Donnell Jr. Brain Institute and the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center. Occupancy is expected in late 2019. 

The University of Pennsylvania is building the $75 million Wharton Academic Research Building in Philadelphia. Designed by MGA Partners, the 65,000-gsf project will provide four flours of academic and research space, including flat-floor classrooms, group study areas, laboratories, and shared conference rooms. On the ground level, a new electrical substation and enclosed loading dock will be built to replace existing facilities. Construction began on the project in spring of 2018 and completion is expected in summer of 2020. 

Boeing will lease approximately 100,000 sf of research space to house the Aerospace and Autonomy Center in Cambridge, Mass. Part of MIT's Kendall Square Initiative project, the facility will be located on four floors of a 17-story, 400,000-sf building currently under construction at 314 Main Street. Occupancy is expected in late 2020. The $2 billion Kendall Square Initiative includes the development of six sites to provide research space, offices, housing, retail, and academic facilities.

The University of Edinburgh is initiating a £90 million renovation and expansion of the Darwin Laboratory Building to accommodate the School of Biological Sciences. Designed by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios to promote interdisciplinary collaboration, the project will include construction of two new laboratory buildings totaling 46,300 sf and a 21,500-sf hub providing meeting rooms, offices, and a café.

The College of Engineering, one of 15 colleges and schools at Cornell University, has 21 percent of the undergraduate population, 32 percent of the graduate population, and 10 percent of the square footage of the campus. As part of the college master plan, Upson Hall, originally built in the 1950s, and one of the largest buildings on the engineering quad, was in line for modernization. The plan called for improving energy efficiency, providing student and faculty collaborative space, and creating wet, hybrid, nano-, bio-, and chemical engineering labs. Since the building is well-located and structurally sound, with good floor-to-floor heights for labs, the decision was to renovate the existing structure, rather than undertake new construction. The project, a complete gut and renovation of the 160,000-gsf building, scheduled in two approximately year-long phases, was completed in August 2017.

UMass Memorial Medical Center is engaged in a multi-phase modernization initiative at its Worcester hospital campus. Upgrades to major public spaces have been completed, including a new atrium in the main pedestrian artery. Comprising 250,000 sf, the MC2020 modernization project was designed by The S/L/A/M Collaborative and is being built by Consigli Construction. The current phase involves upgrades to interior finishes and spaces including corridors, department entries, wayfinding graphics, and the chapel.

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln is planning a $75.4 million renovation and expansion of its engineering complex. Construction will begin in June of 2019 on the demolition and replacement of the Link, a 25,307-gsf structure connecting Scott Engineering Center to Nebraska Hall. Slated for completion in summer of 2022, the new 87,000-gsf facility will accommodate leading-edge research labs and support. A new mechanical tower will also be constructed.

Okanagan College broke ground in August of 2018 on the CAD$18.9 million Health Sciences Centre in Kelowna, British Columbia. Designed by GEC Architecture to promote interaction and integration between academic departments, the collaborative facility will be constructed to attain multiple sustainable design certifications, including LEED Gold, WELL Silver, and the Zero Carbon Building Standard. The project includes construction of a 30,139-sf addition that will replace an existing 1960s-era structure.

Rice University will break ground in August of 2018 on the $38 million Kraft Hall for Social Sciences in Houston. Designed by Rogers Partners, the four-story, 73,000-sf facility will provide classrooms, labs, student lounges, faculty offices, seminar and conference rooms, and a multipurpose venue able to accommodate 300 people. Kraft Hall will house the Texas Policy Lab, the Houston Education Research Consortium, the Boniuk Institute for Religious Tolerance, and the Kinder Institute for Urban Research.

Purdue University Northwest broke ground in August of 2018 on the $40.5 million Bioscience Innovation Building in Hammond, Ind. Designed by CannonDesign to house the departments of nursing and biological sciences, the 68,000-sf facility will provide sophisticated teaching and research labs, collaborative classrooms, clinical simulation suites, student interaction areas, and faculty offices.

Purdue University’s new 178,000-sf Wilmeth Active Learning Center (WALC) contains seven different types of classrooms that are so integrated into the Library of Engineering and Science that “at times, you almost can’t tell the difference between them,” says Nanette Andersson, director of library facilities. The design was borne of years of study into the effectiveness of active learning and the kinds of spaces that best support it. The result is a facility that is utilized nearly 24 hours a day.

The University of North Alabama broke ground in July of 2018 on the $24 million Laura M. Harrison Hall in Florence, Ala. Designed by Create Architects, the 55,000-sf facility will provide the Anderson College of Nursing and Health Professions with teaching labs, simulation training suites, and faculty offices. The three-story building will feature classrooms able to accommodate up to 72 students in order to meet enrollment demands. Consolidated Construction is the general contractor for the project, which will open in fall of 2020.