Research and Development

Tarleton State University broke ground in late March of 2017 on a $54 million engineering building in Stephenville, Texas. Accommodating programs in computer science, engineering, and engineering technology, the three-story, 98,000-sf facility will feature specialized laboratories for robotics, prototyping, fluid dynamics, and materials testing. The project will also provide classrooms, offices, high-bay spaces, a flume, and a wind tunnel.

North Central College celebrated the opening of the $60 million Science Center in March of 2017. Located in Naperville, Ill., the four-story, 125,000-sf facility will support progressive pedagogies for STEM education programs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Designed by Holabird & Root, the multidisciplinary building provides 18 teaching labs, 16 research labs, 15 seminar classrooms, 19 student gathering areas, 53 faculty and staff offices, a lecture hall, and a greenhouse.

The University of California, San Francisco will break ground in April of 2017 on the $275 million Precision Cancer Medicine Building. Designed by Stantec to optimize the delivery of patient-centered care, the 170,000-gsf facility will provide 63,000 sf of clinical space, 45 infusion bays, two accelerator vaults, specialized medical laboratories, and diagnostic instrumentation suites. The six-story building is located on UCSF's Mission Bay campus and will enable the consolidation of outpatient services in a centralized location.

Jaguar Land Rover began construction in March of 2017 on a £200 million design and engineering center in Gaydon in the United Kingdom. Designed by Bennetts Associates, the facility will provide prototyping suites, R&D laboratories, and office space. The general contractor for the project is Laing O’Rourke. 

The University of Toronto is building the Centre for Engineering Innovation & Entrepreneurship in Toronto, Ontario. Designed by Montgomery Sisam Architects and Fielden Clegg Bradley Studios, the CAD$200 million facility will feature TEAL classrooms for technology-enhanced active learning, a two-story atrium offering abundant natural light, a 500-seat auditorium, and studios for design, fabrication, and prototyping.

Oerlikon Metco broke ground in March of 2017 on an 80,000-sf research and manufacturing facility in Plymouth Township, Mich. Representing an investment of $50 million, the project will support the production of alloy powders for 3-D printing and additive manufacturing processes. The facility was designed by Ghafari Associates and is being built by Kirco Manix Construction. Completion is expected in spring of 2018.

“Convergence” is the term increasingly used to describe the intermingling of disciplines in next-gen academic research facilities. Embodied by today’s moonshot-type initiatives targeting big picture-level discovery, convergence has been dubbed “the next scientific revolution.” It is characterized by collaboration among experts in multiple fields of endeavor tackling the major scientific problems of our time. From a facility perspective, convergence goes beyond the organizational progression that has seen traditional departmental siloes challenged by the move to multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary or clustered research. It brings together many diverse specialties, from biomedicine to engineering to business to law, in a single place.

The University of Maryland, Baltimore County began construction in May of 2017 on the Interdisciplinary Life Sciences Building (ILSB) in Baltimore. The 130,000-gsf facility will provide 70,000 net assignable square feet of technology-rich teaching and research space, including active learning classrooms, shared research labs, teaching labs, seminar rooms, and group project areas.

Sanofi and Lonza initiated a joint venture in March of 2017 to create a $285 million biologics manufacturing center in Visp, Switzerland. The strategic partnership leverages Lonza’s expertise in designing, constructing, and managing large-scale mammalian cell culture facilities with Sanofi’s strength in the discovery and launch of biologics-based treatments. Construction is expected to begin in 2017 on the initial phase of the project, with full operations commencing by 2020.

The University of Arizona opened the $136 million Biosciences Partnership Building in February of 2017. Located on the Phoenix Biomedical Campus, the 10-story, 245,000-sf facility houses the Center for Applied NanoBioscience and Medicine, the Institute of Molecular Medicine, the Pediatric Infectious Disease Research Lab, the Research and Translational Flow Cytometry and Immunology Core Lab, and an advanced cancer research lab.

Boeing is planning to build a £20 million manufacturing facility in Sheffield in the United Kingdom. The 25,000-sf project will support the production of wing actuation components and systems for the fabrication division of Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The facility will also support collaborative research and development with the University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) on techniques and systems for optimizing manufacturing processes.

Texas Tech University broke ground on the $77 million Experimental Sciences Building II in February of 2017 in Lubbock, Texas. Designed by TreanorHL to support interdisciplinary research, the collaborative 117,000-gsf facility will provide four general wet labs, three core instrumentation suites, two synthetic labs, a vivarium, a BSL-2 lab, conference rooms, and offices for researchers and principal investigators. The construction manager for the LEED-certified facility, which comprises four stories and a basement, is Project Control.

Swansea University began construction in February of 2017 on the £31 million Computational Foundry in Wales in the United Kingdom. Designed by AHR Architects to foster collaboration with industry and academic partners, the interdisciplinary facility will accommodate research and teaching programs in the computational and mathematical sciences. Housing over 150 investigators, the Computational Foundry will provide leading-edge experimental setups, sophisticated R&D labs, prototyping suites, conference rooms, lecture halls, and offices.

Yale University broke ground in February of 2017 on the 280,300-sf Yale Science Building in New Haven, Conn. Designed by by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects, the seven-level teaching and research facility will feature specialized laboratories, underground core labs, classrooms, offices, a 500-seat lecture hall, and a shared commons area.

The University of Manitoba is planning to build the Smartpark Innovation Hub in Winnipeg. Designed by Cibinel Architecture to foster collaborative partnerships between industry, academia, and government, the 75,000-sf facility will include laboratories, prototyping suites, multimedia classrooms, conference rooms, and business incubator space. The general contractor for the project is Bird Construction and occupancy is expected in April of 2018. The Stanley Paul Engineering Building will also be constructed.