Industry News

Princeton University has selected Hopkins Architects (design architect) and Payette (architect of record) to design its new chemistry building. The 200,000-sf to 300,000-sf facility will relocate the chemistry department to Princeton's new science neighborhood to promote interdisciplinary collaboration at the University. Construction is expected to begin in late 2007 and reach completion in 2010.

Vanderbilt University initiated construction in August 2005 on the Institute of Imaging Sciences (VUIIS) in Nashville, Tenn. Slated for completion in summer of 2006, the $26.7-million project will house a new $7-million, 7-tesla magnet on the ground floor that will be shielded with 400 metric tons of steel. The magnet will be installed in December 2005 and will be used in medical research for near-term identification of therapies and disease cures.

Sonoma State University has completed its LEED® Silver-certified Student Recreation Center in Rohnert Park, Calif. Designed by Irvine-based LPA, the building features a 40-foot high climbing/bouldering wall and a student gathering space. The building is the first on campus to use the LEED® rating system as a guideline for design. Utilizing proper orientation and an efficient exterior skin, the facility is 50 percent more efficient than a typical Title 24 building.

The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center is designing a new biomedical research building that will be sited on its Dallas campus. Slated to begin construction in May 2006, the $20 million facility will be built by St. Louis-based McCarthy. Perkins & Will is designing the four-story, 75,000-sf building which will have dedicated lab space on the first two floors and shell space on the top two floors. Completion is expected in November 2007.

Construction began in early July 2005 on a new $6.6-million facility for New Mexico's Sevilleta Research and Education Center.