Industry News

St. Olaf College's new 190,000-sf facility--the Buntrock Commons Campus Center--has completed the design phase. The architect is Sasaki Associates Inc., based in Watertown, Mass.

The National Fire and Protection Agency (NFPA) has partnered with Western Fire Chiefs Association (WFCA) and the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO) to build a set of Consensus Codes--a new set of codes for the built environment. Their goal is to provide safety officials with a new consistent and compatible set of codes by the year 2003. As part of the Consensus Code project NFPA also plans to devise a NFPA Building Code.

Microcoating Technologies has selected Lord, Aeck & Sargent Interactive Design of Atlanta to design a 200,000-sf master-planned lab and office complex where Microcoating will research and manufacture its thin film products. Lord Aeck & Sargent Interactive Design’s specialty is architecture for high tech companies.

The Ohio State University in Columbus plans to begin construction in September 2001 on the $45,000,000 Robinson Laboratory, a four-story, 235,000-gsf structure for the Department of Mechanical Engineering. The building will house 95,000 nsf of lab and lab support space. Research Facilities Design of San Diego was recently selected as the laboratory building design consultant. The architect is Baxter Hodell Donnelly Preston of Cincinnati.

National University is building a new 40,000-sf central library at its campus in Kearny Mesa at the San Diego Spectrum business park. Dubbed a "cybrary", the cyber-library will be hard-wired for instant retrievel of multimedia, and will provide access to databases, E-books, E-journals, and other Web-based resources. The facility will also accommodate 250,000 volumes of traditional books and periodicals.