Industry News

The New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is planning a new state-of-the-art forensic biology laboratory. The 322,000-gsf, state-of-the-art DNA facility will consolidate disconnected forensic activities conducted at separate sites into one new 12-story facility at Bellevue Hospital Center. HERA Inc.   of St. Louis is providing forensic lab design. Perkins Eastman Architects in association with LSGM Architects in New York are the architects for the project.

 MedImmune announced plans in May 2001 to build a huge campus-style 750,000-sf headquarters on 25 acres in Gaithersburg. Construction of phase one of the three-phase project will be a $70 million, 210,000-sf complex scheduled for completion in late 2002. The two-building structure will accommodate 60,000 sf of R&D space and 150,000 sf of administrative space. Amenities will include a covered parking lot, a cafeteria, and health club. Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum of St. Louis is designing the facility, which will be built by Quadrangle Development of Washington.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory is proposing a new 52l,000-sf research facility and distance learning center for the Joint Institute for Computational Sciences and the Oak Ridge Center for Advanced Studies. The building’s design, completed by Harley Ellis of Detroit, Mich., includes a computer center lab; large lecture hall; specially equipped high-end distance learning center; four self-contained incubator suites for computer-based collaborations; four team suites for multi-disciplinary research.

 Massachusetts General Hospital has renovated the historic 95,000-sf Charlestown Navy Yard Building 114, where the Navy built wooden boats, to provide 60,000 for biomedical research and research support activities; a 3,000-sf conference center; an 8,000-sf animal facility; and approximately 6,000-sf of public space. The primary occupant is the Center for Aging, Genetics, and Neurodegeration.

The Southeast Texas BioTechnology Park, a $633 million project announced in February, is seeking funds to continue. The 15-building complex, to be built over 20 years, is backed by a coalition including institutions at the Texas Medical Center, biotechnology companies, professional groups, and governmental entities.