Industry News

Kaiser Permanente is planning to build a new hospital campus in San Leandro, Calif. Sited on 35 acres, the 262-bed facility will replace Kaiser’s existing health center in Hayward. Featuring private rooms, the sustainably-designed project will include a labor and delivery wing, intensive care, acute care, and pediatrics. The hospital is expected to open in 2013.

The University of California, Berkeley broke ground on a 52,000-sf library and academic facility for the School of Law in October of 2008. Designed by architectural firm Ratcliff of Emeryville, the project will be built to attain LEED Gold sustainable design certification. Constructed as expansion of the South Pavilion, the three-story facility will include two floors below ground level. Completion is slated for 2011.

Homasote, a manufacturer of recycled material building products, has earned the Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS) Certification for its 440 SoundBarrier® products. Made from 98 percent post-consumer recycled materials, the 440 SoundBarrier is now certified for applications in a classroom environment, including bulletin boards, finished wall panels, furniture component and sound control for floors and walls.

The University of Oxford opened its £20 million Biomedical Sciences Building in the United Kingdom in November of 2008. Construction began on the animal research laboratory in 2003. Full research operations will commence in mid-2009. The facility primarily houses mice; 98 percent of the animals in the building are rodents with a small amount of fish, frogs, ferrets, and nonhuman primates.

Carolinas Medical Center-Lincoln broke ground on an $85 million replacement hospital in Lincolnton, N.C., in November of 2008. The 182,000-sf facility will provide 101 inpatient beds and is slated for occupancy in late fall of 2010. A 30,000-sf medical office building will also be constructed at the site.