Collaboration

Washington University in St. Louis opened the $616 million Jeffrey T. Fort Neuroscience Research Building in January of 2024. Designed by Perkins&Will and CannonDesign, the 608,825-sf facility provides interactive lab neighborhoods where up to 120 teams can engage in collaborative discovery. An 11-story, 584,050-sf research tower is capable of accommodating up to 1,000 investigators from the departments of neurology, neuroscience, neurosurgery, psychiatry, and anesthesiology.

Marshall University opened the Brad D. Smith Center for Business and Innovation in January of 2024 in Huntington. Designed by Perkins Eastman, the 77,000-gsf facility provides the Lewis College of Business with state-of-the-art finance and computer labs, a maker space, offices, study areas, and a 360-seat auditorium. Technology-enabled classrooms that range in size from 32 to 96 seats are furnished with flip-top nesting desks on wheels for optimal flexibility.

Utah Tech University is constructing the $70.5 million General Classroom Building in St. George to provide next-generation learning environments for the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. Designed by Method Studio, the 120,091-sf facility will accommodate programs in psychology, applied sociology, criminal justice, English, philosophy, history, political science, and communication and media studies. This vibrant academic hub will offer 53 instructional venues including lecture halls, classrooms, and labs, as well as 26 student collaboration spaces.

AstraZeneca is partnering with Boston Properties to create a 570,000-sf R&D center in Cambridge’s Kendall Square. Housing approximately 1,850 employees, the 16-story building will offer world-class research environments for the creation of advanced biomedical therapies and vaccines. This nexus of innovation and discovery will feature flexible open laboratories arranged in neighborhoods with shared instrumentation suites and collaboration spaces.

The University of Central Florida broke ground in January of 2024 on a new home for the College of Nursing at Lake Nona Medical City in Orlando. Designed by Ayers Saint Gross and HuntonBrady, the Dr. Phillips Nursing Pavilion will address a statewide shortage of healthcare professionals by enabling the university to graduate an additional 150 nurses each year. The $68 million development will provide classrooms, flexible instructional venues, wet and dry labs, offices, and study zones.

Trammell Crow Company is developing Science Square in Atlanta to provide Georgia Tech with state-of-the-art facilities for learning, research, and innovation. Ground was broken in September of 2023 on the third phase of construction at the site, a 416,500-sf complex with two towers linked by a shared circulation core. Envisioned as a vertical quad, this dynamic social zone will offer myriad collaboration venues with a large gathering area for presentations and events.

The University of California, Riverside is constructing a vibrant new home for the School of Business. Created by the design-build team of Moore Ruble Yudell Architects & Planners and McCarthy Building Companies, the $87 million facility will centralize academic activities currently dispersed across campus while accommodating significant programmatic growth.

The University of Colorado Boulder saved a mid-century building from demolition by refurbishing it -- and funding it -- in stages. They continued to use the building as the students and faculty decided the best use for each space, overcoming issues of low floor-to-floor heights, inadequate mechanical systems, and asbestos. 

The Medical University of South Carolina broke ground in December of 2023 on a $50 million facility for the College of Health Professions in Charleston. Designed by Clark Nexsen and SMHa, the 90,000-sf project will offer leading-edge environments for teaching, research, collaboration, and innovation.

Wexford Science + Technology will break ground in mid-2024 on Brightwork, the anchor building for the University of Washington’s planned innovation district in Seattle. The 345,000-sf facility will be constructed by Wexford for an estimated cost of $282.5 million, with UW investing $72 million for tenant improvements. After an 80-year lease, the 11-story structure will revert to university ownership.

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln opened the $115 million Kiewit Hall in January of 2024. Designed by Clark & Enersen and Ballinger, the 181,500-gsf facility provides leading-edge environments for undergraduate education programs in engineering and construction management. The Garage, a 20,300-sf maker space, includes a high bay space, 3D printers, laser cutters, a CNC machine, a paint booth, and shops for working with wood, metal, and electrical components.

The University of Virginia broke ground on the $350 million Paul and Diane Manning Institute for Biotechnology in December of 2023. Located in the Fontaine Research Park in Charlottesville, the 350,000-sf project will drive innovation in the fields of cellular therapy, gene therapy, nanotechnology, and drug delivery. By collocating state-of-the-art labs and core facilities with advanced manufacturing suites and clinical environments, the four-story building will accelerate the translation of medical discoveries into new solutions for patient care.

Aviva Investors began construction in December of 2023 on a three-story, 60,000-sf life sciences facility in Cambridge, U.K. Located in the Chesterford Research Park, the Sidney Sussex Building will provide 10 individual suites with fully fitted wet labs and open office areas that range from 2,226 sf to 8,409 sf. A dedicated floor of shared conference rooms will promote collaboration and exchange, complemented by inspiring outdoor settings for informal interaction.

The University of South Carolina is planning to break ground in 2025 on a new home for the School of Medicine in Columbia. Accommodating an expanded annual class size of 130 students, the highly transparent facility will feature world-class academic environments such as active learning classrooms, extensive medical simulation spaces, and a health science library. The 300,000-sf complex will catalyze biomedical discovery with a dedicated research building housing multidisciplinary laboratories.

Princeton University's Environmental Studies and School of Engineering and Applied Science (ES+SEAS) project, scheduled for completion in 2025, stretches 1,700 feet along a narrow 17.5-acre site. The complex will provide 670,000 gsf of lab, office, and collaboration space for five of the university’s science and engineering entities in three interconnected, four-story structures and a Commons. The project is notable not only for its massive scale but for its focus on fostering connections within and among groups that work in many different ways. The design realizes the university’s vision of creating identity, community, collaboration, inspiration, flexibility, and efficiency in an environment whose hallmark is a rich variety of bespoke non-lab space configurations that follow uniform standards for everything from office dimensions to lounge furnishings.