University of Wisconsin-Madison Opens Microbial Sciences Building

The University of Wisconsin-Madison opened the 330,000-sf Microbial Sciences Building on Sept. 14, 2007. Housing the departments of Bacteriology, Food Microbiology & Toxicology, Medical Microbiology & Immunology, and the Food Research Institute, the six-story facility features two atria to foster interaction and collaboration among an estimated 500 researchers. Designed by Plunkett Raysich Architects in Milwaukee with support from CO Architects of Los Angeles, the facility was built by general contractor C.D. Smith Construction of Fond du Lac, Wisc. The $125 million project accommodates 47 research suites, teaching laboratories, BSL-3 and BSL-3Ag suites, a fermentations center, instrumentation and computational rooms, administrative offices, a molecular modeling classroom, a 450-seat seminar hall, parking, and a discovery center open to the public.