Research and Development

The U.S. Department of Energy broke ground on the Illinois Accelerator Research Center (IARC) in December of 2011. Located at Fermi National Laboratory in Batavia, the 42,000-sf project will provide advanced research, development, and commercialization space for particle accelerator technologies. The facility will be created by renovating and expanding an existing 36,000-sf building to house engineering labs, offices, and educational space for researchers, academia, and industry partners. Completion is expected in 2013.

Cornell University is partnering with Technion-Israel Institute of Technology to build a $2 billion science college in New York City. Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the 2.1 million-sf research and innovation campus is to be located on Roosevelt Island and will include classrooms, labs, auditoriums, and housing. Classes will begin in 2012 in leased facilities, with occupancy of the first phase of construction expected in 2017. Complete build-out is expected by 2027. 

Biomeasure, a subsidiary of French pharmaceutical company Ipsen, is initiating a $45 million expansion and renovation of its campus in Milford, Mass. Ground will be broken in mid-2012 on a three-story, 62,000-sf facility housing R&D and process science labs. Two existing buildings at the site, a research facility and a cGMP manufacturing plant totaling 77,000 sf, will be extensively renovated.  Completion is expected in early 2014.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s $112 million biochemistry complex was completed in December of 2011. A new six-story research tower was constructed and several existing buildings were extensively renovated. Designed to promote interaction and collaboration, the facility provides 20 biochemistry and biomolecular chemistry research labs, classrooms, lecture halls, and a rodent vivarium. 

Louisiana State University broke ground on the $20 million Animal and Food Sciences Laboratory Building in December of 2011 in Baton Rouge. Designed to promote interaction and interdisciplinary collaboration, the two-story, 48,000-sf building will house laboratories and offices for the departments of Veterinary Science, Food Science, and Animal Sciences. Construction will begin in January of 2012 with completion expected by summer of 2013.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory is building the $135 million Energy Systems Integration Facility in Golden, Colo. The 182,500-sf project will provide 15 laboratories, four outdoor test sites, a computational data center, and advanced visualization and simulation systems for electrical grid performance research. The project team includes architectural firm SmithGroup and general contractor JE Dunn. LEED Gold sustainable design certification will be sought for the facility. Construction began on the project in spring of 2011.

Novartis dedicated its $1 billion vaccine production facility in December of 2011 in Holly Springs, N.C.  Sited on 167 acres, the 430,000-sf project includes six buildings providing laboratory, manufacturing, and office space. Production of a pre-pandemic H5N1 flu vaccine has already begun. Utilizing cell-based vaccine manufacturing technology, the facility will be able to supply up to 25 percent of the doses needed in the United States in the event of an emergency. The complex will house up to 500 employees when full-scale commercial production begins in early 2013.

Okanagan College opened the $28 million Jim Pattison Centre of Excellence in Sustainable Building Technologies and Renewable Energy Conservation in December of 2011. Located in Penticton, British Columbia, the zero-energy, zero-waste facility features the largest photovoltaic solar array on a non-utility building in Canada. Supporting education, research, and training in sustainable design, the building includes interactive instrumentation for the monitoring of building systems. The facility also houses the Okanagan Research and Innovation Centre. 

The Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine dedicated its $126 million stem cell research facility in December of 2011. Located in La Jolla, Calif., the four-story, 150,700-sf building houses open labs, offices, a conference center, protein and nucleic acid analysis suites, and core facilities with advanced imaging and robotics. Ground was broken on the project in December of 2009. The general contractor was Lankford & Associates of San Diego, a subsidiary of Colorado-based Hensel Phelps Construction.

The $25 million National Imaging Facility opened in Sydney in December of 2011. Located in Camperdown near the University of Sydney’s Brain and Mind Research Institute (BMRI), the project includes a MeV cyclotron for the creation of radioactive isotopes, a radiolabeling facility, and a biomedical imaging lab with advanced analysis and modeling capabilities. The National Imaging Facility was created in partnership with the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation.

Merck will construct its Asia research and development headquarters in Beijing. Located in the Wangjing science and technology park, the 505,904-sf facility will provide laboratory and office space for 600 employees. The building will accommodate drug discovery, translational research, clinical development, regulatory affairs, and external scientific research programs. The first phase of construction is expected to reach completion by 2014.  

Colorado State University will begin construction in June of 2012 on a $19.5 million renovation of the Animal Sciences Building in Fort Collins. Plumbing, mechanical, electrical, and telecommunications systems will be replaced in the 41,558-sf building, which will house renovated teaching labs and classrooms.

Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Science completed construction in December of 2011 on the Center for Blue Biotechnology. Located in Boothbay, Maine, the facility houses labs, offices, support, the National Center for Marine Algae, and the Single Cell Genomics Center. The project represents the first phase of a $33 million campus redevelopment that will include the $11.4 million Center for Ocean Health and the Center for Ocean Biogeochemistry and Climate Change. The completed campus will include 60,000 sf of research space. 

Brigham and Women's Hospital is planning a $450 million research and clinical building in Boston. The medical foci of the 360,000-sf facility will be immunology, neuroscience, genomics, and regenerative medicine. Completion is expected by 2016.

Construction will begin in April of 2012 on the Research, Innovation, Learning and Development Centre in Exeter in the United Kingdom. The medical research facility represents a partnership of the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust, the University of Exeter, and Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry. Designed by Devereux Architects, the four-story building will include a central hub and several wings.