Research and Development

The new Consolidated Forensic Laboratory (CFL) in the heart of Washington, D.C., not only merges the physical environs of three city public safety agencies—public health, the chief medical examiner, and the forensics labs—but also creates a new dynamic for interagency cooperation. Co-location in the 351,000-sf, six-story, state-of-the-art facility allows the city to upgrade all three agencies cost effectively while improving the science, efficiency, and integrity of the work performed there. The efficiency extends to the building systems, with the CFL achieving LEED Platinum.

The $270 million Albert Sherman Center expands and unifies the UMass Medical School’s Worcester campus, doubling its research capacity and supporting the school’s new learner-centered curriculum. The 512,000-sf state-of-the-art interdisciplinary research and education facility fosters interaction and collaboration among scientists and promotes innovation and synergies across disciplines, bringing together researchers from one research building and several smaller satellite buildings and leased spaces.

Cambridge University Hospital is planning to build The Forum on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus in the United Kingdom. Designed by NBBJ, the $202 million development will include a post-graduate medical school, a 100-bed private hospital, a 198-room hotel, and a 55-seat conference center. The project will be built using general contractor Laing O'Rourke's ‘Design for Manufacture and Assembly’ system of modular construction.

The University at Buffalo broke ground in October of 2013 on the $375 million School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. Located on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, the eight-story, 628,000-sf facility will provide active learning environments, surgical and patient care simulation centers, a gross anatomy lab, administrative and departmental offices, and 150,000 sf of flexible, multidisciplinary laboratories.

Nova Southeastern University will begin construction in January of 2014 on the $80 million Center for Collaborative Research in Davie, Fla. The 220,000-sf facility will provide a genomics research center, wet laboratories, and business incubator space for biotech companies.

Washington State University is planning to build the $52.8 million Clean Technology Laboratory Building on its Pullman campus. Housing programs in science and engineering, the 96,000-sf interdisciplinary facility will accommodate research on advanced materials, atmospheric science, and hydrology. The project team includes LMN Architects, general contractor Skanska, and laboratory design consultant Research Facilities Design. Completion is expected in summer of 2015.

The Coachella Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District is constructing a new BSL-3 laboratory, to be completed in March 2014, to reduce turnaround time on mosquito testing by bringing currently outsourced procedures in-house. The District is dedicated to arbovirus (arthropod-borne virus) surveillance, focusing on mosquito abundance, mosquito infections, and avian infections to target mosquito control in areas that are the most important to preventing disease transmission. By limiting mosquito control to selected areas, the District lowers expense, time, and labor, and minimizes harm to the environment.

The Mars Center for Science and Technology, Wheaton College’s largest-ever building project, creates a cornerstone of the College’s interdisciplinary curriculum called “Connections,” providing enhanced facilities for scientific research and study, as well as scholarly connections across the disciplines, where scientists and humanists co-teach courses to highlight the unique contributions of each discipline. The building, certified LEED Gold, also fulfills Wheaton’s commitment to sustainability.

Montreal University Health Centre (Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal) opened its $470 million biomedical research institute in October of 2013. The project was delivered as a public-private partnership (PPP) in collaboration with Pomerleau Real Estate and construction manager Verrault. The building provides advanced laboratories for 160 research teams, a simulation training center, a cyclotron, and space for inpatient clinical trials. Occupancy is expected in January of 2014.

The University of Maryland School of Medicine broke ground in September of 2013 on the $305.4 million Health Sciences Facility III in Baltimore. The 10-story, 428,970-sf translational research building will provide advanced biomedical laboratories for the study of genomics, cardiovascular science, cancer, regenerative medicine, and neurology. The project team includes architectural firms HOK and Design Collective Inc. with Barton Malow Company as construction manager. Completion is expected in December of 2017.
 

The following is a condensed transcript of a panel discussion from Tradeline’s 2013 International Conference on Research Facilities. The panelists are William Gustafson, principal at Ballinger; Steven Frei, principal at Affiliated Engineers, and Michael Reagan, vice president of Stantec. The moderator is Steve Westfall, founder and CEO of Tradeline.

The Karolinksa Institute will begin construction in late 2013 on the $190 million Biomedicum research facility in Solna, Sweden. The project team includes developer Akademiska Hus, Berg/C.F. Møller Architects, and general contractor Skanska. Providing open, flexible labs for biomedical research, the 678,000-sf interdisciplinary facility will also house offices, conference rooms, and a large central atrium.

Montclair State University broke ground on the $55 million Center for Environmental and Life Sciences in September of 2013. Expanding the University's science infrastructure by 50 percent, the 107,500-gsf facility will provide seven interdisciplinary group research suites, six core labs, five office areas, classrooms, seminar rooms, a microscopy suite, and a 150-seat lecture hall.

Cedars-Sinai Health System opened the Advanced Health Sciences Pavilion in Los Angeles in summer of 2013. Integrating world-class patient care with medical research and teaching, the 11-story, 820,000-sf facility provides translational labs in close proximity to clinical settings. The pavilion was designed by HOK and houses the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute, the neurosciences program, the Regenerative Medicine Institute, an education center with advanced simulation labs, and two floors of procedural space.

Georgia Tech’s Carbon-Neutral Energy Solutions (C-NES) building sets a new standard for sustainable design for buildings of its type by optimizing passive energy technologies, reducing energy demand, and maximizing the use of renewable energy: A prototype living, learning laboratory that offers lessons for future net-zero attempts. Net-zero energy defies the historical reality that laboratories can consume 10 times the energy of a typical office building, and one six-foot fume hood consumes as much energy annually as a 2,500-sf home.