Industry News

SAP AG, the German producer of business software, plans to expand its American operations headquarters at its Newtown Square campus. Construction of 700,000 sf of office space will include three centers: the SAP Global Solutions Center, the SAP Institute for Innovation and Development, and the SAP Partner E-Business Center. Currently, 1,500 people are employed at the site; the expansion will accommodate an additional 600 staff. Completion is anticipated in late 2002.

Johns Hopkins University recently dedicated the new 50,000-gsf Academic and Research Building for its Montgomery County campus at the Shady Grove Life Sciences Center in Rockville. The three-story structure features state-of-the-art research and education facilities: four computer labs; 22 "smart" classrooms configured for video conferencing, multimedia presentations, and high-speed transmission of large databases; a coffee house; a bookstore; and student meeting spaces.

Kutztown University has plans to renovate and expand its science teaching facilities. The Pennsylvania Department of General Services has contracted with STV Architects to design the $14 million Kutztown University Science Center. The Boehm and Grim Science Buildings will undergo renovation and a 70,000-sf addition to the Boehm building will be constructed. The center will accommodate and promote new technologies and will encompass the biology, chemistry, marine science, physics, geography, geology, physical science, and astronomy departments.

University of California, Berkeley, has plans for a new $85 million, 240,000-sf interdisciplinary science research building to replace the seismically unsafe Stanley Hall. The state-of-the-art structure will house teaching labs and support functions for many disciplines: structural biology, bioengineering, chemical biology, computation and theoretical biology, and magnetic imaging. The architect for the project will be Portland, Ore.-based Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership.

University of Maryland, Baltimore County, has selected Boston-based Einhorn Yaffee Prescott, Architecture & Engineering, P.E. (EYP), to renovate the 137,000-sf undergraduate Chemistry/Biochemistry Building. The renovation will increase the number and quality of teaching and research labs, and provide departmental and faculty offices, lab support areas, and interaction areas for students and faculty.