Research and Development

The University of Miami (UM), working with Wexford Science & Technology of Hanover, Md., is embarking on the 211,000-sf phase one of a planned six-building, 2 million-sf UM Life Science Park aimed at both established and spin-off companies who want to work with university researchers. The facilities will encompass preconstructed wet labs, offices, and shared facilities for technology development, as well as housing for researchers and academia, and street-level retail.

The Burnham Institute for Medical Research has consolidated three Orlando offices in a new 175,000-sf, $85 million research facility designed to study diabetes, obesity, and heart disease. Medical City is a 600-acre science and technology park within Windermere, Fla.-based Tavistock Group’s Lake Nona mixed-use master-planned community.

The Skidaway Institute of Oceanography has opened a new $5 million, 11,000-sf facility to further their research on marine and coastal systems. The Marine and Coastal Science Research and Instructional Center (MCSRIC) houses high-tech lab, conference, office, and collaboration space in a single-story building designed by Lord, Aeck & Sargent of Atlanta, who have targeted LEED Gold certification for the facility.

The Engineering Department at Yamagata University is planning to begin construction in fall 2009 on a 6,000-square-meter research center in Yonezawa, Yamagata Prefecture. The 1- to 2-billion yen facility will focus on research in organic electroluminescence-the use of organic material that emits light with the application of electric current, a process which consumes much less electricity compared to other forms of illumination. Anticipated applications of the process include use in cell phones and TV screens.

Construction has finished at Temple University’s new $160 million state-of-the-art School of Medicine building. Ballinger of Philadelphia designed the 11-story, 480,000-sf facility to provide 100,000 sf for medical education,  160,000 sf for patient care research, and 249,000 sf of dedicated educational laboratories and research space.  The emphasis on interdisciplinary collaboration is exemplified by the Health Sciences Center library, cominbining the fields of medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, nursing, and the related health professions.

The Helen Diller Family Cancer Research Building at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), opened at the university’s biomedical research and education Mission Bay campus. The 163,865-gsf, five-story building was designed by Rafael Vinoly and is exclusively dedicated to cancer research, treatment, and prevention. Translational research into cancer’s basic biological mechanisms, brain tumors, urologic oncology, pediatric oncology, cancer population sciences, and computational biology will all be housed at the new facility.

Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) has been awarded 2009 Project of the Year by the New England chapter of the Construction Management Association of America for the”green” design and construction of East Hall, a 232-bed apartment-style residential building. One particular feature of the building—a “living green roof”—has 12,985 sf of EnergyStar roofiing, topped with 5,000 sfof sedum, chives and other plants. The building has eight high-tech media suites; music, recereation, and fitness facilities; and full wireless access.

DePaul’s new Monsignor Andrew J. McGowan Science Building, housing the departments of chemistry, environmental sciences, and biological sciences,  was designed and constructed with LEED certification in mind. The structure contains classrooms, labs, academic offices, and greenhouses.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will award approximately eight to twelve grants, totalling $120 million, in early 2010 to higher education institutions and nonprofits to build or expand their scientific research capabilities. The grants, part of the American Recovery and Reinvestments Act of 2009, will be competitive, with Letters of Intent due to NIST by June 25, and full proposals by August 10. A variety of facilities--labs, test and measurement facilities, research computing facilities, observatories—will be considered.

A 1,000-acre Wake county site 12 miles from Research Triangle Park (RTP) may house another RTP-like development. “Veridia”  (a name combining Latin “veritas” or truth, and “verdant” meaning green, with “idea”) is the brain-child of Tom Hendrickson, a principal at Zebulon, NC-based Lookout Ventures real estate development company. Combining facilities for residential, retail, technology and biotechnology operations, as well as greenways and parks, the urban, sustainable development facilities may incorporate LEED guidelines.

Construction of the $38-million WSU Vancouver Applied Technology Classroom Building will begin this year.

Labor rates, material prices and competition in the commercial construction marketplace are combining to make this a great year to put up a building.

The United Kingdom’s Medical Research Council is constructing the £197 million Laboratory of Molecular Biology at Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge. Designed by RMJM to foster interaction and collaboration, the facility will provide 27,000 asm of low-vibration research space for 400 scientists and 200 support staff. Construction began on the three-story project in March of 2009 and completion is expected in January of 2012.

The University of California Davis School of Veterinary Medicine opened the Regenerative Medicine Laboratory at the William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital in May of 2009. Housing advanced facilities to process, culture, and store equine stem cells, the laboratory will also provide stem cell collection kits to veterinarians for harvesting stem cells from blood or bone marrow.

The University of Winnipeg is constructing the 155,000-sf Science Complex and Richardson College for the Environment in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Supported by an $18 million federal infrastructure grant, the $59 million project will house advanced research and teaching laboratories, classrooms, and offices. A minimum of LEED Silver certification for sustainable design will be sought for the project. Ground was broken on the project in November of 2008 with completion expected by March of 2011.