Research and Development

Six translational research companies have come together to form the Global Alliance of Leading Drug Discovery and Development Centres. The founding organizations include The Scripps Research Institute of Jupiter, Fla.; the UK's Medical Research Council Technology and Cancer Research Technology; KU Leuven's Centre for Drug Design and Discovery in Belgium; Germany's Lead Discovery Center; and the Centre for Drug Research and Development in Canada.

The University of Miami is building the 81,000-sf Marine Technology Life Sciences Seawater Complex. Located on the Virginia Key Campus in Miami, the $47 million project includes the Marine Life Sciences Center and the  Surge-Structure Atmosphere Interaction (SUSTAIN) research lab. Providing research space for the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, the complex will feature a 28,000-gallon tank with a three-dimensional simulator able to create Category 5 hurricane winds. The center will also include a facility for the culture and study of sea hares.

Designed as an integral part of Genzyme's Framingham Corporate Campus Master Plan, the 186,000-sf Biologics Support Center provides support space for the adjacent Framingham Cell Culture Expansion as well as other Genzyme manufacturing facilities.

Samsung Semiconductor is planning to build a 680,000-sf R&D facility in San Jose, Calif. Replacing the company's existing 200,000-sf office building, the ten-story project will feature abundant internal vegetation for optimal indoor air quality. LEED sustainable design certification will be sought for the building, which will include a photovoltaic array, rain gardens, a green roof, and an eight-story parking garage. Occupancy is expected in 2015.

Missouri State University is building a $3.2 million vivarium facility in Springfield. The 5,000-gsf project is being constructed as an addition connecting to the existing Temple Hall. The facility will provide animal housing space, support, an administrative office, and a shower for animal care staff. The vivarium will accommodate research on mammalian species while providing a new aquatics lab for the study of fish and mussels.

Glasgow University will open the Beatson Translational Research Centre in spring of 2013. Housing 150 scientists, the project will provide collaborative laboratories for interdisciplinary cancer research. The $16 million facility is located on the University's Garscube campus in the Bearsden area of Glasgow, Scotland.

Amgen will build a $200 million monoclonal antibody manufacturing facility in the Tuas Biomedical Park in Singapore. The plant will supply both clinical and commercial products. Construction will begin in spring of 2013.

Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center is planning to build the $115 million Williamson Translational Research Building in Lebanon, N.H. The 165,000-sf facility will provide collaborative research space supporting the integration of medical discoveries into patient care. Construction is expected to begin on the project in spring of 2013.

Recent high-profile natural disasters and human-based incidents are driving vivarium facility owners to reevaluate their disaster and contingency plans. Traditional approaches to risk assessment and research preservation are often over-simplified, understaffed, and insufficiently funded. A new shift in thinking focuses on preparing for the net results of losing utilities, an entire building, or access to a section of campus rather than the initial causes.

Middle Tennessee State University is building the $147 million Science Building in Murfreesboro. Designed by joint venture firm Thomas Miller & Partners/Hastings Associates with Einhorn Yaffee Prescott as consultant, the facility will provide over 250,000 sf for STEM education (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). Accommodating collaborative team-based learning, the building features two-tiered discussion classrooms, seven teaching labs, advanced instrumentation suites, and a 150-seat lecture hall.

ABB, a developer of power and automation technologies, is creating a headquarters and engineering facility on the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Innovation Campus in Wauwatosa. The three-story, 90,000-sf building will accommodate research and development, administration, and sales. The developer of the facility is Zilber Property Group. ABB is the anchor tenant of the UWM Innovation Campus, a project designed to foster collaboration between industry and academia.

The new Toronto Public Health Laboratory will be built on the top four floors of the MaRS Phase II Tower in Ontario, Canada. Merrick & Company, Diamond Schmitt Architects, and HH Angus are planning and designing the facility, which includes CL-2 and CL-3 labs, associated support systems, and offices. The project will provide flexible research space designed for ease of adaption to new testing platforms, workload surges, and changing research activities.

The University of Wyoming is planning to build the $30 million Energy Engineering Research Facility (EERF) in Laramie. The 81,000-sf building will feature large-scale, flexibly configured research laboratories, offices, and meeting areas. The project team includes Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects of Seattle, Malone Belton Abel of Laramie, and GSG Architecture of Casper. Construction will begin in fall of 2014 with completion expected in spring of 2016.

Northwestern Medicine is planning to build a new biomedical research facility in Chicago. Connecting to the Robert H. Lurie Medical Research Center on every level, the building will provide between 300,000 and 500,000 sf of advanced translational research space. Total build-out is estimated at 1.2 million sf. The $1 billion project also includes the renovation of 250,000 sf of lab space in existing facilities.

Tradeline asked 115 individuals representing 94 research organizations to prioritize their areas of focus for 2013 and to make open-ended comments regarding these priorities. The priorities identified in this survey will be the focus of Tradeline's upcoming conference: The 2013 International Conference on Research Facilities on May 9-10 in Boston.

The respondents’ overall priorities, in order of importance, are: