Research and Development

Many young people entering academia and the workforce today have grown up with “maker spaces,” where equipment like 3D printers helps bring together teams creating in the physical world. The spaces—available in schools, libraries, and community centers, as well as universities and corporations—teach technical skills but also foster soft skills, like collaboration and project planning. Successful maker spaces can be popular and productive, drawing in visitors, donors, and prospective students. But they require thoughtful planning to manage the demand for space, and effective governance for budget, safety, and training, while also leaving room for the experimental and creative spirit the spaces seek to encourage.

Seneca College is constructing the CAD$85 million Centre for Innovation, Technology and Entrepreneurship in North York, Ontario. Designed by Perkins+Will, the five-story, 274,000-sf building will offer integrated facilities for applied research and commercialization, specialized training, and business incubation. Supporting the development of industry partnerships, the project will provide collaborative laboratories, maker spaces, instrumentation suites, classrooms, and a large atrium and event space.

The University of Maine is planning to build the $80 million Engineering Education and Design Center in Orono. Designed by Ellenzweig and WBRC Architects and Engineers, the 120,000-sf teaching and research building will provide classrooms and labs for experiential, team-based learning. Supporting the expansion of UMaine's engineering program, the facility will feature capstone project rooms for multidisciplinary student collaboration. Construction could begin in late 2019 with completion expected in 2022.

Aldevron is building a $30 million plasmid manufacturing facility in Fargo, N.D. The 70,000-sf project will feature 17,000 sf of modular cGMP cleanrooms, as well as ISO 8 processing suites with ISO 7 suites for cell banking and fermentation. The facility will feature airlocked, unidirectional personnel flow within the cGMP production area, single-pass air for all product dispensing and cell banking suites, and integrated facility and environmental monitoring systems.

Purdue University dedicated its $60 million, 122,462-sf animal sciences complex in March of 2018 in West Lafayette, Ind. Ground was broken in November of 2015 on the project, which includes the Hobart and Russell Creighton Hall of Animal Sciences, the Land O' Lakes Center for Experiential Learning, and the Purina Pavilion.

The International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering announced the category winners for 2018 ISPE Facility of the Year Awards in March of 2018. The awards include: 

Modern research and academic facilities are increasingly adopting design principles typically used by small, fast-growing startup companies that depend on flexibility, innovation, and collaboration to succeed. Open workplace settings, dedicated collaborative spaces, smaller work teams, onsite entertainment zones, and shared support hubs are all examples of design features that are being deployed by larger research institutions and other organizations to improve performance and leverage changing demographics for better outcomes.

The University of Lethbridge is constructing the CAD$280 million Destination Project in Alberta, Canada. Supporting multidisciplinary science programs, the 387,500-sf building will provide flexible teaching and research labs, academic classrooms, meeting rooms, gathering areas, and a central atrium. Designed to foster entrepreneurship and the commercialization of research discoveries, the facility will include incubator space for industry partners as well as a community education venue offering interactive science displays.

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee will develop a new academic medical complex by transforming the former Columbia St. Mary hospital campus in Milwaukee. Designed by Kahler Slater, the $80 million project includes the renovation of 470,000 sf in several buildings to accommodate programs for the College of Nursing, the College of Health Sciences, the School of Information Studies, and Student Health Services.

The University of Canterbury opened the first phase of the NZD$220 million Rutherford Regional Science and Innovation Centre in February of 2018 in Christchurch, New Zealand. Designed by Jasmax in association with laboratory design consultant DJRD, the Ernest Rutherford building provides technology-rich teaching and research space for the College of Science.

The Johnson & Johnson Human Performance Institute began construction in March of 2018 on its new global headquarters in Orlando. Located at Lake Nona Medical City, the $18 million building will feature research and development labs and a multidisciplinary training center to support the creation of science-based approaches to improve human energy capacity for performance, resilience, and leadership. The 35,000-sf project represents an expansion of JJHPI's existing Lake Nona campus and is slated for completion by year-end 2018. 

Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology opened the Project Centre for Biomedical Engineering and Advanced Manufacturing (BEAM) in March of 2018 in Hamilton, Ontario. Located in the McMaster Innovation Park, the $33 million project involved the renovation and fit-out of an existing warehouse to create a 20,000-sf innovation center offering research, office, and manufacturing space. An additional 20,000 sf on the second floor will house laboratories and offices in the future.

The 10-story University of Arizona Biomedical Sciences Partnership Building (BSPB), the tallest addition to the 28-acre Phoenix Biomedical Campus, allows academic research scientists to collaborate with local healthcare providers and private companies to find new medical cures and treatments. BSPB is organized to encourage collegiality, collaboration, and customization. The building was programmed and planned before the occupants were selected, so the floor plates were organized in a general framework of labs, support spaces, and offices. The adaptable plan and utility distribution backbone was designed to easily modify to suit different types and scales of interdisciplinary research on the same floor, including computational, instrumentational, and cellular and molecular research. A multi-purpose translational core facility opens to the main lobby and is available to outside clinical and industry research partners.

The University of Tennessee will break ground in fall of 2018 on a $129 million engineering building in Knoxville. Designed by McCarty Holsaple McCarty with SmithGroupJJR as laboratory planner, the facility will comprise a central structure with two wings of up to five stories. The 228,000-sf project will provide flexible classrooms and research labs, maker spaces, project rooms, informal interaction areas, an atrium, and dedicated space for the department of nuclear engineering.

Allegheny Health Network and Highmark Health are planning to build the $80 million AHN Cancer Institute Academic Center in Pittsburgh. Located on the north side of Allegheny General Hospital, the 90,000-sf facility will house research and clinical space, including 49 chemotherapy infusion bays, advanced radiation oncology suites, and conference and exam rooms with telemedicine capabilities. The building will have two floors above ground, two floors below grade, and will be connected to the hospital's conference center and front rotunda entrance.