Higher Education

College of the Canyons broke ground on its 55,000-sf Science Center in January of 2018 in Santa Clarita, Calif. Primarily accommodating programs in the physical and biological sciences, the four-story building will provide eight labs, 10 science service rooms, 24 faculty offices, group study rooms, computer labs, classrooms, and a 75-seat lecture hall. Completion is expected in late 2019. College of the Canyons is also planning to construct the four-story Student Services and Learning Resources Building.

University College Birmingham broke ground in January of 2018 on a £29 million teaching and sports science facility in the United Kingdom. Accommodating both graduate and undergraduate programs, the four-story, 91,500-sf building will provide eight classrooms, three 100-seat lecture halls, faculty and staff offices, and flexible learning spaces. The facility will feature a spacious dining area, an advanced gymnasium, and a 115-ft indoor running track for performance and speed assessments.

Georgia State University is planning to construct a $35 million biocontainment research facility in Atlanta. Located on the Downtown campus, the 55,000-sf building will provide BSL-3 and BSL-4 laboratories for the study of infectious diseases and select agents. The project, which will be the first academic BSL-4 facility in the Southeast, will include open research labs, offices, and support space. 

The University of Tennessee is constructing the $118 million Ken and Blaire Mossman Building in Knoxville. Designed by McCarty Holsaple McCarty and Lord Aeck Sargent, the six-story, 222,000-sf facility will accommodate programs in microbiology, psychology, nutrition, biochemistry, and cellular and molecular biology. Offering spaces for both structured and unstructured interaction, the collaborative project includes classrooms ranging from 81 to 126 seats, indoor and outdoor gathering spaces, a 228-seat auditorium, and a café.

The SUNY College at Oneonta’s extensive rehabilitation of the Physical Science Building (PSB) includes renovation of 58,000 gsf and 18,000 gsf in new construction. The 1970s brick building with a concrete structure required replacement of about 70 percent of the exterior envelope, including the northwestern elevation to control glare and solar heat gain. The brick addition complements the style of the campus at large, with syncopated windows facing southeast, and glass and metal panel accents all around.

Carleton University opened the CAD$52 million Academic Health Science Building in January of 2018 in Ottawa. Designed by Montgomery Sisam Architects and NXL Architects, the seven-story, 120,000-sf facility provides undergraduate teaching labs, research labs, lecture halls, offices, and study spaces to support neuroscience and health science programs. The project includes two floors of shell space to allow for future growth, as well as an animal research vivarium on the seventh floor that will open later in 2018.

The Commonwealth Center for Advanced Manufacturing is planning to build a $12.7 million apprentice academy adjacent to its existing 62,000-sf facility in Disputanta, Va. Designed by Perkins+Will, the 36,000-sf addition will support training programs in advanced manufacturing with classrooms and workshops for the development of skills in mechatronics, welding, fabrication, and machinery. Completion is expected by 2020.

Prism Capital Partners is engaged in the redevelopment of the former Hoffmann-La Roche site in New Jersey to create the ON3 campus. Providing integrated research, office, and recreational facilities, the mixed-use campus currently houses a 73,000-sf laboratory building partially leased by biofabrication firm Modern Meadow, with plans for the construction of an adjacent pilot manufacturing plant under way.

The University of New Mexico opened the renovated Farris Engineering Center in Albuquerque in January of 2018. The $25.5 million project utilized the concrete structural skeleton of the original building that was constructed in 1967 to create a collaborative environment with ample natural light for the departments of chemical and biological engineering, computer science, and nuclear engineering.

Keck Medicine of USC opened the Norris Healthcare Center in January of 2018 in Los Angeles. Located on USC's Health Sciences Campus adjacent to the Comprehensive Cancer Center, the seven-story, 116,000-sf outpatient facility features a patient-centric design for the integrated delivery of multidisciplinary ambulatory care. All women’s specialty care services have been grouped together on a single floor, and urology and urologic oncology are collocated on another level of the building.

Purdue University broke ground in January of 2018 on an $86 million apartment complex in West Lafayette, Ind. Providing 835 beds, the three-building, 387,000-sf project will be built by a joint venture of Balfour Beatty, Walsh Construction, and Smoot Construction. Completion is expected by August of 2019.

Seattle University is planning to begin construction in June of 2019 on the 110,000-sf Center for Science and Innovation. Designed by EYP, the four-story facility will provide laboratories and collaboration spaces for the College of Science and Engineering, as well as space for the Albers School of Business and Economics.

The University of West Florida broke ground in January of 2018 on the $26.3 million Laboratory Sciences Annex in Pensacola. Connecting to the existing Life Sciences Laboratory, the 52,790-sf facility will provide the Hal Marcus College of Science and Engineering with additional classrooms and 12 teaching labs for biology and chemistry. The project was designed by Perkins+Will and Caldwell Associates to support the growth of STEM programs in science, technology, enginering, and mathematics.

Louisiana State University will open the $18 million Center for River Studies in Baton Rouge in February of 2018. Located on the Water Campus, the 45,500-sf facility will be a comprehensive, integrated physical modeling center that will serve both as a research hub for study of the lower Mississippi River and as an educational facility. Created in partnership with the Coastal Protection Restoration Authority, the facility was designed by Mougeot Architecture and built by Stuart & Co.

The University of Arkansas began construction in December of 2017 on the Stadium Drive Residence Halls in Fayetteville. Designed by Leers Weinzapfel Associates, Modus Studio, Mackey Mitchell Architects, and OLIN, the 202,000-sf, 708-bed facility will be the nation's first large-scale cross-laminated timber (CLT) dormitory campus. The $79 million living and learning community will support interactive, collaborative programs in architecture, design, English, and the arts.