Higher Education

Montgomery County Community College opened the $32 million Health Sciences Center in November of 2017 in Blue Bell, Pa. The 145,000-sf project, which included new construction and renovation of an existing building, provides 14 health science labs, 11 classrooms, a 25-station dental clinic, imaging suites, simulation rooms, offices, a fitness center, an instructional gym, and a 1,100-seat multipurpose sports hall. The sustainably designed facility features natural and LED lighting, low-VOC materials, and sophisticated building systems.

Texas A&M University is planning to build a $127 million facility for the College of Dentistry in Dallas. The 158,000-sf Clinic and Education Building will offer classrooms, clinical areas, study spaces, and approximately 300 dental chair stations. The nine-story facility will include a parking garage on the first three levels and is slated for completion in fall of 2019.

The University of Massachusetts Amherst is constructing the $102 million Physical Sciences Building. Designed by Wilson Architects to promote collaboration, the 79,500-gsf facility will accommodate 20 faculty members and 130 bench positions for the departments of physics and chemistry. Comprising two stories above ground and a basement level, the building will provide conference rooms, faculty offices, laboratories, and high bay spaces with vibration mitigation technologies.

The University of California, Riverside is constructing the $150 million Multidisciplinary Research Building 1 (MRB1). Designed by SmithGroupJJR, the five-story, 179,000-sf facility will provide collaborative wet, dry, and computational laboratories to accommodate up to 56 researchers and their teams. The project will include offices, conference rooms, BSL-2 labs, core research space, and a barrier vivarium with animal holding areas, procedure rooms, and support.

The University of Colorado Boulder broke ground in October of 2017 on an $82.5 million aerospace engineering building. Designed by Hord Coplan Macht (HCM) and Ratio Architects, the collaborative 144,000-sf project will provide reconfigurable open research labs, interactive learning spaces, faculty offices, workshops, a 200-seat auditorium, and an indoor flight environment for unmanned aircraft. Whiting-Turner is the general contractor and occupancy is expected in summer of 2019.

The University of Oregon broke ground in March of 2018 on the Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact in Eugene. Designed by Ennead Architects and Bora Architects, the first phase of construction will include a $225 million, 160,000-sf facility providing interdisciplinary laboratories for biomedical research, collaboration areas, and public spaces. Completion is expected in early 2020.

University of Texas Health San Antonio broke ground in October of 2017 on the $70 million Barshop Institute for Longevity & Aging Studies. Promoting the integration of research with clinical care, the project will accelerate the translation of medical discoveries into new therapies for patient treatment. Designed by Alamo Architects, the three-story, 108,000-sf building will provide open research labs, lab support, administrative and faculty offices, and a vivarium.

The University of California, Santa Barbara opened the $86 million BioEngineering Building in October of 2017. Designed by Moore Ruble Yudell Architects to promote cross-disciplinary collaboration, the three-story, 45,000-sf facility provides 17,200 sf of open lab space, a 100-seat auditorium, an atrium, and offices for faculty, graduate students, and administrative staff.

Rutgers University–Newark opened the $59 million Life Sciences Center II in October of 2017. The five-story, 85,000-sf interdisciplinary facility connects three existing science buildings and features teaching labs, research labs, and a technology-rich lecture hall for active learning that can accommodate 100 students. Suites for imaging and electron microscopy are located below grade. 

The University of Ottawa is building the CAD$115 million Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Complex. Designed by Perkins+Will Canada, the 312,000-sf facility will feature open-plan teaching labs, a dedicated prototyping center, makerspaces with 3D printers, and an entrepreneurship hub. The project team includes general contractor PCL Construction, project manager CBRE, mechanical/electrical engineer Bouthillette Parizeau, and structural engineer Cleland Jardine.

Colorado State University celebrated the opening of the $56.4 million Chemistry Research Building in Fort Collins in October of 2017. Designed by Hord Coplan Macht and Ratio Architects, the four-story, 60,000-sf facility provides 11 faculty research areas in a collaborative open environment with an abundance of fume hoods. The laboratory design consultant for the building was Research Facilities Design (RFD).

The College of New Jersey opened the $75 million STEM Building in October of 2017 in Ewing Township. Supporting programs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, the 89,000-sf facility houses the departments of biomedical engineering, mechanical engineering, and computer science. Designed by EYP Architecture & Engineering to provide integrated teaching and research space, the multidisciplinary building offers classrooms, informal learning areas, a metal fabrication workshop, and a physiology lab.

Science education programs in the U.S. and Europe expect their graduates to be able to think analytically, solve problems creatively and collaboratively, and be critical consumers of information. To support their progress, they must have strategically planned buildings and an integrated curriculum. Universities in Dublin, Ireland, and Lexington, Kentucky, offer tangible examples of this evolution in science education.

Sacramento State University broke ground in September of 2017 on the $91 million Science II facility in Sacramento, Calif. Accommodating the departments of biology and chemistry, the five-story, 96,631-sf project will offer 30 glass-walled teaching and research labs, classrooms, collaboration spaces, a 2,500-sf planetarium, and a rooftop observatory. The design-build team includes CO Architects and Sundt Construction.

The University of Oregon broke ground in October of 2017 on the $39 million Tykeson Hall in Eugene. Collocating academic space and the career advising offices of the College of Arts and Sciences, the five-story, 64,000-sf facility will provide 340 general classroom seats, a student commons, and faculty and staff offices. LEED Gold sustainable design certification will be sought for the facility, which will feature daylighting, natural ventilation, radiant floors, chilled beams, and a high-performance building envelope.