Industry News

The U.S. Army broke ground in March of 2008 on a $477 million communications facility at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland. Part of the BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure) initiative, the 1.5 million-sf facility is expected to reach occupancy in fall of 2010. The general contractor is Whiting-Turner Contractors. The building will house C4ISR (command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) operations relocated from a base in Fort Monmouth, N.J. that is slated for closure.

Northrop Grumman Corp. will initiate construction in mid-2008 on a 100,000-sf laboratory and office building in Huntsville, Ala. The facility represents the second phase of the four-building, $80 million Cummings Research Park and will enable Northrop Grumman to consolidate area operations. 

Pennsylvania State University broke ground in March of 2008 on a $50 million facility for the Dickinson School of Law on the Carlisle campus. Designed and engineered by Polshek Partnership Architects with Gilbane as construction manager, the 94,000-sf project will feature ceremonial courtrooms, legislative hearing rooms, an auditorium, lecture halls, library, and technology-rich classrooms and instructional spaces. LEED certification will be sought for the project. Completion is slated for December 2009.

The National Centre for Zoonosis Research opened in Leahurst in the United Kingdom in March of 2008. Based at the Liverpool University Leahurst veterinary field station, the facility will accommodate collaborative zoonotic disease research. Supported by a £1.7 million grant from the North West Development Agency, the project included renovating a former graduate student housing facility to accommodate a suite of Category 3 laboratories, including a bacterial zoonoses lab, administrative offices, and lecture facilities.

Yale University is planning to construct a 180,000-sf biomedical research building in New Haven, Conn. Designed by Pelli Clark Pelli, the five-story facility will be comprised of an underground lab support floor, three floors of laboratories, and a mechanical penthouse and greenhouses on the fourth floor. LEED Gold certification for sustainable design will be sought for the project. The research facility will be connected to the Kline Biology Tower by a bridge.