Rice University Constructs Collaborative Research Center

Rice University is constructing the Collaborative Research Center in Houston. The 477,000-gsf project broke ground in December of 2006 and is slated for completion in early spring of 2009. Sited on 2.9 acres, the ten-story facility will accommodate bioscience and biotechnology research. The estimated construction cost of the LEED-certified facility is between $200 million and $300 million. A tower housing eight floors of research laboratories will rest on a base platform comprised of a 280-seat auditorium, a 100-seat seminar room, classrooms, a vivarium, three levels of underground parking, and 10,000 sf of retail. Two stories of shell space may also be built to allow for future expansion, and a second research tower atop the base platform could add an additional 150,000-sf. The design architect for the project is Skidmore, Owings and Merrill with Linbeck as general contractor and FKP Architects as local associate architect. The facility will be developed and run by Rice University and Texas Medical Center with partner institutions including Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children's Hospital, the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, and the UT Health Science Center at Houston.