Genomics

Concordia University is planning to construct the Centre for Structural and Functional Genomics (CSFG) in Montreal, Quebec. Supported by $30 million in federal and provincial funding through the Knowledge Infrastructure Program, the facility will be constructed as a 5,400-sm wing attached to the existing Richard J. Renaud Science Complex on the Loyola Campus. The Genomics Centre will house interdisciplinary laboratories for the study of genomics, systems biology, biotechnology, and bioinformatics.

Genzyme Corp. initiated construction in September of 2009 on a $100 million R&D Center in Beijing. The 200,000-sf facility will accommodate 350 employees engaged in biologics and gene therapy research. Completion is expected in 2011.

Johns Hopkins School of Medicine opened the $45 million Anne and Mike Armstrong Medical Education Building in Baltimore in early 2009. The four-story, 100,000-sf project broke ground in September of 2006 and houses a 70-person learning studio, two 180-seat lecture halls, classrooms, flexible laboratories, offices, and study areas. The facility will support the School of Medicine’s new Genes to Society curriculum, which centers on advances in human genome research.

Gallaudet University celebrated the opening of the Molecular Genetics Laboratory in Washington, D.C., in February of 2009. The building will provide research space for the departments of biology and chemistry and is specifically designed for deaf researchers. The open-plan lab houses environmental chambers, ultralow freezers, fume and sterile hoods, DNA gel equipment, and PCR thermocyclers for research in genetics, environmental science, and cancer. Construction began on the project in January of 2008 and reached completion in August of 2008.

DNAVision, an applied genetics and genomics services company, completed an expansion of its campus in Charleroi-Gosselies, Belgium, in January of 2009. Doubling laboratory and office space, the project added five new lab areas for cell culture and nucleic acid extraction. Supporting the company’s RNA- and DNA-based analytical techniques, the expansion will enable DNAVision to provide GMP certified assays. Additionally, subsidiary DNAVision AgriFood will relocate to a new facility in early 2009.

Indiana University School of Medicine-South Bend (IUSM-SB) and Notre Dame University broke ground on the $20 million Harper Hall in South Bend in November of 2008. The 55,000-sf project will house medical education facilities, offices, and 28 cancer research laboratories for IUSM-SB and the University of Notre Dame. The building will connect on three levels to the existing Raclin-Carmichael Hall, which houses IUSM-SB and Notre Dame’s Keck Center for Transgene Research.

The University of Nebraska Medical Center is constructing the $74 million Durham Research Center II in Omaha. Construction began on the 10-story, 252,179-gsf facility in August of 2006. Featuring 98 technology-rich laboratories, investigator offices, and lab support, the facility will connect to UNMC’s existing Durham Research Center via a covered parkway.

Stanford University School of Medicine broke ground on the $200 million Lorry I. Lokey Stem Cell Research Building on October 27, 2008 in Stanford, Calif. The 200,000-sf facility is scheduled to open in summer of 2010 and will be the largest stem cell research facility in the United States. Housing the Stanford Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine Institute, the building will feature an open design to encourage collaboration with a large atrium connecting two research wings.

The North Carolina Research Campus celebrated the opening of three buildings on its 350-acre life sciences campus in Kannapolis in October of 2008. The $1.5 billion project was designed by Narmour Wright Creech Architecture and developed by Castle & Cooke. The campus includes the 311,000-sf Murdock Core Lab which features a basement vivarium housing 48,000 rodents.

The University of California, Davis broke ground on the $62 million Institute for Regenerative Cures on September 26, 2008. The 54,200-sf stem cell research facility will be located in a 92,000-sf building on the University’s Sacramento campus. Housing multidisciplinary research teams, the collaborative facility will include wet labs, an FDA-approved GMP lab, a Specific Pathogen Free (SPF) barrier facility, a stem cell bank, fluorescence-activated cell sorting core space, conference rooms, offices, and laboratories for basic discovery and translational research.

Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies (TPIMS) completed its $40 million, 103,000-sf headquarters in Port St. Lucie, Fla., in September of 2008. Built by Suffolk Construction in the Florida Center for Innovation, the project began construction in February of 2008 and was completed three months ahead of schedule. The LEED-certified facility is comprised of office space and seven biomedical research laboratories. The project developer was Port St. Lucie-based Core Communities. Occupancy is slated for November of 2008.

The Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine will break ground in January of 2009 on a $115.2 million stem cell research facility in La Jolla, Calif. The Sanford Consortium, a nonprofit research group comprised of the Burnham Institute for Medical Research, Scripps Research Institute, the Salk Institute, and UC San Diego, received $43 million in May of 2008 from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). The 130,907-sf, four-story building is slated for completion in December of 2010.

The University of Massachusetts Medical School is planning to build a $420 million biomedical research facility in Worcester. The building will support research in genetic therapy, stem cells, and RNAi. UMass Worcester is also building a seven-story medical education and clinical practice center slated for occupancy in 2010.

The University of Southern California broke ground in September of 2008 on the $82.6 million Eli and Edythe Broad CIRM Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research in Los Angeles. Located on USC's Health Science Campus in Boyle Heights, the 81,537-gsf, five-story facility will provide 53,000-asf for basic and discovery stem cell research, preclinical research and preclinical development, and clinical research. Designed by Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects to foster collaboration, the building will include shared research space.

The Medical University of South Carolina will break ground by year-end 2008 on a $55 million bioengineering building in Charleston. The four-story, 100,000-sf facility is slated for completion by late 2010. The building will house 36 wet lab and office suites, dry computational labs, and a 600-person conference room. The facility, which will be connected to an 114,000-sf drug discovery center, will support stem cell and biomedical research.