Industry News

The Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute will officially open its new $32 million Alzheimer’s research facility on West Virginia University's Morgantown health sciences campus on September 19, 2008. Housing 20 researchers, the 78,000-sf facility includes 20,000-sf of lab and office space, open labs with ten feet of bench space per researcher, microscopy and electrophysiology labs, a darkroom, and a commons area. The three-story facility will be able to accommodate up to 100 researchers.

Colorcon, a maker of medicine and candy coatings, is initiating construction in spring of 2008 on an 89,000-sf global headquarters in Lower Salford Township, Pa. Designed by Wuff Architects, the facility will house R&D labs, a data center, and administration. Sited on 25 acres, the two-story facility will be partially built into the side of a hill. Completion is slated for September of 2009. Colorcon is owned by Berwind Corp. of Philadelphia.

East Carolina University rededicated the Carol Belk Building in Greenville, N.C., on March 28. Designed by MHAworks, the $9 million renovation project transformed the existing facility to create a home of the College of Health and Human Performance. Designed to promote interaction, the Belk Building houses research laboratories up to BSL-3, teaching labs with low flow hoods and customized storage systems, three auditoriums, offices, work rooms, and conference rooms. The facility features extensive daylighting and an exterior low-e glazing.

Drexel University is initiating $400 million in capital projects on its University City campus in Philadelphia. Comprised of 11 projects slated for completion by 2013, the campus master plan was designed by Sasaki Associates. Facilities include the Integrated Sciences Building, featuring a 40-foot biofilter wall using living plants as an air filter for dust particles, and a $42 million expansion of the recreation center. Additionally, ground will be broken for a new dormitory in April of 2008 with occupancy expected in fall of 2009.

Nassau University Medical Center will begin construction in 2009 on a $55 million emergency department in East Meadow, N.Y. Doubling the footprint of the medical center’s existing ER, the project will feature new radiology facilities and an expanded psychiatric emergency program. Designed to enable response to mass casualty scenarios, the 52,000-sf facility will include 82 treatment rooms, portable decontamination shower tents, isolation rooms, a separate pediatric treatment area, and a new roof helipad. The project architect is Cannon Design of Manhattan.