Industry News

Drexel University has selected design firm Diamond + Schmitt Architects to design a new academic building at the heart of Drexel’s West Philadelphia campus. The $49-million facility will support the Department of Bioscience by providing state of the art learning spaces, 32 800-sf research laboratories, and nine 1,200-sf teaching labs. The five story, 28,500-sf building will also house the Steinbright Career Development Center which serves students and alumni in cooperative education and career placement.

Duke University is planning to construct the 120,000-sf Experimental and Collaborative Environment for Learning (EXCEL) for Pratt School of Engineering in Durham, N.C. Slated for completion in 2010, the project will feature "collaboratories," specialized facilities that combine laboratory and lecture space to enhance the intersection of education, research, and design experience.

Beloit College celebrated the groundbreaking of its $36.5 million Center for the Sciences in late April of 2007. The 116,000-sf facility will house 38 laboratories, 43 staff offices, and 12 classrooms. The project includes sustainable design features such as a vegetated roof, energy efficient technologies, and native plant landscaping. The Center houses a 1,500-sf atrium.

Sanford Children’s Hospital will break ground on May 23, 2007 on a $36.5 million facility in Sioux Falls, S.D. The five-story hospital will house a clinic and internal employee services on the ground floor with four floors of patient and clinic space including 62 private rooms on the upper floors. A third-floor skyway will connect to the neonatal intensive care unit. Slated for completion in spring of 2009, the hospital features a medieval castle theme. Site preparation is being performed by Henry Carlson Co.

Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development initiated construction in April 2007 on a new laboratory, office, and clinical development facility in Spring House, Pa. The 150,000-sf multidisciplinary building will function as the company’s East Coast discovery research hub. Completion is expected in 2009.