The University of Connecticut celebrated the opening of the $95 million Engineering and Science Building in June of 2018 in Storrs. Designed by Mitchell Giurgola Architects, the five-story, 118,000-gsf structure provides open-concept laboratories, instructional spaces, collaboration areas, and faculty offices to accommodate STEM programs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
Memorial University of Newfoundland is building the CAD$36 million Animal Resource Centre in St. Johns. Replacing two existing buildings, the collaborative 26,000-sf research facility will include rodent production and housing areas, surgical suites for small and large animals, physiological testing areas, and an Animal Containment Level 2 environment for behavioral studies. The project was designed by NXL Architects and will accommodate mice, rats, woodchucks, and Yucatan minipigs.
Saint-Gobain, a leading manufacturer of innovative building materials, has released the results of an occupant comfort study for its new North American headquarters in Malvern, Pa., a facility that has attained double LEED Platinum certification. Developed in partnership with the University of Oregon’s High Performance Environments Lab (HiPE), the longitudinal study revealed that a systems-based design approach utilizing multiple solutions and strategies can have a stronger collective impact on a building’s ability to optimize occupant comfort.
The Pennsylvania State University celebrated the opening of the 93,500-sf Agricultural Engineering Building in June of 2018 in University Park. The $44 million project included a 16,000-sf renovation of the historical front section of the structure, demolition of the remainder of the building, and approximately 77,000 sf of new construction.
Virginia Commonwealth University broke ground on the $93 million Engineering Research Building in June of 2018 in Richmond. Designed by Goody Clancy, Baskervill, and Smith McClane Architects, the collaborative 133,000-sf facility will provide the College of Engineering with teaching and research labs, interaction areas, and offices. Supporting an experiential curriculum, the project will feature the 9,000-sf Innovation Maker Facility housing 3D printers and other prototyping and fabrication technologies.
Northeastern University broke ground in June of 2018 on a $60 million research facility in Burlington, Mass. Located on the Innovation Campus, the three-story, 104,000-sf facility will provide research labs, a meeting area for workshops, and a maker space with 3D printers and other prototyping technologies.
SAB Biotherapeutics will occupy 41,000 sf in University of South Dakota's Discovery District in Sioux Falls. SAB, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, will locate its corporate headquarters, research labs, and a cGMP suite in the 84,000-sf building, which was designed by Perkins+Will and Architecture Incorporated. Alumend, a subsidiary of Avera, will occupy 7,500 sf in the $31 million facility, which will also house the offices of the USD Discovery District and 20,000 sf of leasable space.
The University of Louisville opened the $78 million Novak Center for Children's Health in June of 2018 in Louisville, Ky. Designed by GBBN in collaboration with Stanley, Beaman & Sears, the eight-story, 176,000-sf facility collocates all general and specialty pediatric services in a single structure to provide patient-centric multidisciplinary care. The technology-rich outpatient center includes clinical research areas, imaging and diagnostic labs, a conference suite, a rooftop garden, and the Wendy L. Novak Diabetes Care Center.
Infineon Technologies is planning to begin construction in mid-2019 on a 646,000-sf semiconductor manufacturing center in Villach, Austria. The company will invest $1.9 billion over six years in the creation of the facility, which will begin producing 300-millimeter wafers by 2021. Accommodating approximately 400 employees, the project will enable Infineon to meet an increased global demand for semiconductors to support the development of electric vehicles, battery technologies, data centers, and renewable energy systems.
Nottingham Trent University began construction in June of 2018 on two new STEM buildings in Nottingham in the United Kingdom. Located on the Clifton campus, the £22 million Medical Technologies Innovation Facility will provide sophisticated research and development labs, write-up areas, instructional spaces, offices, and a conference room. Designed by GSSArchitecture, the two-story interdisciplinary building will accommodate industry partnerships to accelerate the commercialization of new health technologies.
Cambrex Corporation, a leading manufacturer of small molecule innovator and generic Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs), completed an expansion of its pilot plant in High Point in May of 2018. The project included the installation and commissioning of a fourth reactor suite, increasing the site's capacity by approximately 30 percent. The 400-sf suite houses two 2,000-liter glass-lined reactors and a Hastelloy C22 filter dryer, allowing the manufacture of batch sizes between 10 and 100 kilograms under cGMP conditions.
Deaconess Health System opened the $135 million Orthopedic and Neuroscience Hospital in May of 2018 in Newburgh, Ind. Designed by Hafer Architects, the six-story facility features a multidisciplinary ortho-neuro surgical clinic and an urgent orthopedic care center. Located at Gateway Hospital, the facility links two existing towers via an atrium and features patient rooms with floor-to-ceiling glass. The general contractor for the project was Barton Malow.
To work effectively with huge amounts of complex research data requires not just computational efficiencies, but team-centered facility design. The Allen Institute’s new 270,000-sf Seattle facility implements an innovative floor plan to integrate lab space, office space, meeting space, natural lighting, air flow—and most importantly, movement of people. “What we have done with our new research building is to take the basic research model and scale it up to a more team-oriented environment,” says Paul Wohnoutka, senior director of operations. And it supports this new environment with several inventive energy-saving mechanical systems.
AstraZeneca opened its 163,000-sf South San Francisco facility in May of 2018. Located in the Cove at Oyster Point, the project houses a total of 400 employees from four organizations: Acerta Pharma, MedImmune, Pearl Therapeutics, and Technology Innovation & Delivery Excellence (TIDE). Designed by HOK to promote collaboration and innovation, the open lab and office environments incorporate AstraZeneca’s iWork philosophy, an activity-based approach that embraces industry best practices.
North Carolina State University broke ground in April of 2018 on the $150 million Fitts-Woolard Hall in Raleigh. Accommodating the Fitts Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering and the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering, the 250,000-sf project will provide leading-edge laboratories and classrooms, as well as administrative space for the office of the dean.
