Research and Development

FUJIFILM Biotechnologies opened a $3.2 billion pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in September of 2025 in Holly Springs, N.C. Integrating leading-edge equipment and technologies, the sophisticated development features eight 20,000-liter bioreactors for the production of bulk drug substances and innovative therapies. Johnson & Johnson and Regeneron have signed 10-year contracts to secure space at the 1.3 million-sf campus, which represents the largest end-to-end cell culture CDMO hub in North America. 

Rice Real Estate Company and Lincoln Property Company are planning to construct a landmark research facility in the Ion District in Houston. Designed by HKS, the Arc will connect academic excellence with industry, institutional, and entrepreneurial partners to accelerate the transition of science and technology discoveries to the marketplace.

The University of Pittsburgh is constructing the state-of-the-art BioForge center in the Hazelwood Green development, a brownfield site site that once accommodated a steel mill. Designed by HOK, the $250 million hub will drive breakthroughs and innovations in the manufacturing of precision biological medicines to improve human health.

Penn Medicine opened a $376 million facility in September of 2025 in Philadelphia to drive pioneering research in autoimmune disorders. Positioned atop an existing 250,000-sf office tower, the eight-story overbuild features wet laboratories, a vivarium, and a BSL-3 lab for the processing of infectious disease specimens.

Arkansas Children’s is constructing the $75 million National Center for Opioid Research and Clinical Effectiveness (NCOR) on the site of the Little Rock hospital campus. Designed by ESa (Earl Swensson Associates), the 65,000-sf facility will enable pioneering longitudinal studies on the effects of opioid exposure on family and pediatric health to guide treatment approaches and inform policy decisions.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison opened a $267 million facility for the School of Computer, Data & Information Sciences in August of 2025. Designed by LMN Architects and Kahler Slater, Morgridge Hall will act as a beacon of innovation for the state’s growing tech industry while meeting an increased demand for programs in robotics, cybersecurity, software design, and machine learning.

Nokia unveiled a state-of-the-art campus for R&D and manufacturing in September of 2025 in Oulu, Finland. Spanning 592,015 sf, this dynamic innovation hub will design, test, and deliver 5G and 6G radio networks built for artificial intelligence. The bipartite project comprises eight floors of flexible office space and a two-story factory for industrial production. Laboratories equipped with advanced technologies provide both simulated and real-world field verification environments to accelerate network evolution.

The University of Arkansas opened the Anthony Timberlands Center for Design and Materials Innovation in August of 2025 in Fayetteville. Designed by Grafton Architects and Modus Studio, the 44,763-sf facility will enable the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design to advance the discovery and development of innovative timber construction modalities. The six-story development features an 11,000-sf high bay zone for fabrication and design-build activities, connected to teaching spaces above by a central atrium.

The University of Arkansas opened the Institute for Integrative & Innovative Research (I³R) in August of 2025 on its Fayetteville campus. Designed by HGA and Hufft, the $137.6 million facility will accelerate cross-disciplinary research to foster convergence across the public and private sectors and address pressing problems in domains such as medicine, food systems, and cyber technologies. The 144,000-sf building accommodates five wings.

The University of California, San Francisco began construction in August of 2025 on the Life Sciences Building located in the Dogpatch Power Station redevelopment. Designed by Herzog & de Mueron and Stantec, the transformative facility will drive bioscience innovation by bringing together research, best-in-class patient care, and graduate-level training with venues for new biomedical companies.

Brown University is constructing the William A. and Ami Kuan Danoff Laboratories in Providence’s Jewelry District to support integrated life sciences research. The 300,000-sf facility was designed by TenBerke and Ballinger to catalyze innovation and the commercialization of impactful scientific and medical breakthroughs. The seven-story building will provide six levels of wet and dry laboratories and research cores for programs in biology, medicine, neuroscience, bioengineering, and public health.

Southern Research opened a $98 million biotechnology center in August of 2025 in Birmingham, Alabama. Designed by HOK and Williams Blackstock Architects, the 150,000-sf building will advance research crucial to human health and address pressing biomedical threats. The five-level structure features BSL-3 laboratories spanning 7,500 sf that provide essential biocontainment capacity for the study of infectious diseases.

Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) broke ground on an academic and research building for the physical sciences in July of 2025 in the Netherlands. The dynamic facility will colocate departments from the Faculty of the Applied Sciences on the college’s south campus and stimulate excellence in education, discovery, and collaboration.

Masaryk University (MU) is constructing the MUNI BioPharma Hub to drive excellence in research, education, and innovation in Brno in the Czech Republic. Offering three underground levels and six stories above grade, the 163,504-sf project was designed by Pelčák a partner architekti to combine leading-edge scientific infrastructure with modern academic venues. 

Designing and building labs in the unlikely and constrained location of the prestigious Pacific Design Center (PDC) with Hollywood as a backdrop is a daunting task, requiring adherence to quality expectations, facilities management guidelines in a non-research environment, separation from existing high-end tenants, and compliance with infrastructure requirements. Cedars-Sinai, one of the largest nonprofit medical centers in the U.S., accepted the challenge after deciding to expand its research portfolio. Growing beyond its limited campus is necessary to accommodate the rapid growth of its research facilities and to aid in recruiting top scientists by providing innovative facilities with optimum resources. Hospital officials looked a half mile from their campus to the PDC, a designated cultural resource building complex designed by Cesar Pelli in the 1970s. Known in the 1980s and 1990s as a vibrant hub of premier art, design, and architectural showrooms, many of the tenants now have online shops rather than physical space in the cluster of buildings, leaving vacancies available for lease and an opportunity for Cedars-Sinai’s growth.