Industry News

Smithsonian Environmental Research Centre initiated a $45 million renovation and expansion of the Mathias Laboratory in May of 2011. Located in Edgewater, Md., the project includes construction of a two-story, 69,000-sf addition housing laboratory and support space and renovation of 21,000 sf. The project will feature a geothermal HVAC system with enthalpy wheels for energy recovery, rooftop photovoltaic panels, low-flow fume hoods, and wastewater recycling.

The University of Chicago opened the Joe and Rika Mansueto Library in May of 2011. The facility features an underground storage area with robotic retrieval for 3.5 million volumes. The Mansueto Libray was designed by Helmut Jahn and includes an 8,000-sf reading room under a dome constructed from 700 panels of glass. Construction on the facility began in fall of 2008.

The J. Craig Venter Institute broke ground in April of 2011 on a genomics research lab in La Jolla, Calif. The carbon neutral facility will house 125 scientists and staff.

The Czech Republic is planning to break ground in 2011 on the Beamlines Facility in Dolní Brežany. The $424.6 million laser research center will be part of the European Commission's Extreme Light Infrastructure (ELI) project. Designed by BFLS, the project will include a laser research lab located in an immense concrete block, administrative offices, conference rooms, and a restaurant. Completion is expected in 2015.

Narayana Hospitals opened the Mazumdar-Shaw Centre for Advanced Therapeutics (MS-CAT) in May of 2011. Located at Narayana Health City in Bangalore, the 100,000-sf cancer research center provides biomodulator production labs, a marrow/stem cell transplant suite, and facilities for immunotherapy, gene therapy, and in-vitro fertilization. The Mazumdar-Shaw Centre will support collaborative research and development with the University of California at Irvine, Cornell University, Strand Genomics, and GANIT labs.