Boston Real Estate COVID Consortium is creating a toolkit of strategies for workplace design, construction, and management in response to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. The mission of the consortium is to share knowledge relating to current industry best practices, due diligence, and adapting to changes in codes and regulatory amendments for the post-pandemic working environment.
The University of Mississippi is planning to begin construction in late 2020 on the $160 million Jim and Thomas Duff Center for Science and Technology Innovation in Oxford. The 204,000-sf facility will provide leading-edge laboratories, interactive classrooms, collaboration areas, lounges, breakout spaces, conference and meeting rooms, and offices for faculty and staff. Anchoring the new Science District, the building is expected to be one of the nation’s leading student-centered learning environments for STEM programs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
The Vaccines Manufacturing Innovation Centre (VIMC) is being constructed on an accelerated schedule in Oxford in the United Kingdom. Ground was broken on the £66 million project in April of 2020 and occupancy is expected in 2021, a year earlier than previously planned.
The University of Delaware began construction in April of 2020 on the $38 million FinTech building in Newark. Located on the Science, Technology and Advanced Research (STAR) Campus, the 100,000-sf facility will accelerate the development of innovative financial technologies. The six-story project, which is being created in partnership with Discover Bank and the Delaware Technology Park, will enable the university to lease space for its research programs in financial analytics, cybersecurity, data analysis, and human-machine learning.
Rhodes State College is planning to begin construction in mid-2020 on the $20.2 million Borra Center for Health Sciences in Lima, Ohio. Designed by Munger Munger + Associates Architects, the 50,000-sf building will accommodate allied health programs including nursing, emergency medical services, respiratory care, and occupational and physical therapy assistance. The structure will provide six additional classrooms and a leading-edge simulation center with high-fidelity training suites for experiential learning in obstetrics, surgery, and intensive care.
The Human Technopole Foundation is planning to construct a 592,000-sf biomedical research campus in the MIND Milano Innovation District in Italy. Designed by Piuarch, the Human Technopole Campus will include a ten-story, 377,000-sf facility offering 177,000 sf of dedicated laboratory space. Comprising two flexible volumes connected by a full-height atrium, the $102 million building will include advanced instrumentation suites, 800 investigator workstations, meeting rooms, event venues, and space for several research centers.
The U.S. Department of Energy is planning to begin construction in 2021 on the $75 million Grid Storage Launchpad at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Wash. Designed as a resource hub for the development of next-generation grid energy storage technologies, the R&D facility will provide labs for basic materials synthesis and processing, in-operando characterization, small-scale cell fabrication, kilowatt-scale testing and validation, advanced prototyping, visualization, and analysis.
Virginia Tech is planning to break ground in fall of 2021 on the first academic building on its Innovation Campus in Alexandria. Designed by SmithGroup, the 300,000-gsf facility will offer experiential learning environments, maker spaces, flexible multipurpose venues, and research and testing labs for the school's graduate programs in computer science and engineering. The sustainably designed structure will feature a façade with integrated photovoltaic panels, a rooftop solar array, and geothermal and sewage water energy exchange technologies.
Ohio University is constructing the $65 million Heritage Hall in Athens. Designed by Perkins+Will and DesignGroup, the three-story, 120,000-sf building will provide the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine (HCOM) with flexible environments for team-based learning to support the school's groundbreaking Pathways to Health and Wellness curriculum.
Novo Nordisk completed a $5.1 million tenant renovation and expansion project in March of 2020 in Fremont, Calif. In just four months, MAI Construction remodeled the subleased 44,000-sf facility to provide Asterias Biotherapeutics with leading-edge research, production, and office spaces to support the creation of innovative stem cell therapies. The four-phase project included the construction of new cGMP Grade B manufacturing labs, as well as a materials lift and canopy for the area's shipping and receiving area.
Hyundai Motor Company will break ground in October of 2020 on the Hyundai Mobility Global Innovation Center in Singapore (HMGICs). The 300,000-sf facility will be located on over ten acres in the Jurong Innovation District, an advanced manufacturing campus developed by JTC Corporation. Supported by funding from the Singapore Economic Development Board, the open innovation hub will accelerate the discovery of new sustainable mobility solutions.
Science programs face the same pressures everywhere—a need for tech-enabled classrooms, demand for doing more with less space, emphasis on flexible research space, and practical considerations pushing departments to share resources and work together. At tiny Ursinus College in Pennsylvania, a new science building is meeting these challenges by physically connecting departments and expanding non-program spaces.
Vanguard University opened the $24 million Waugh Student Center in April of 2020 in Costa Mesa, Calif. Designed by HPI Architecture, the two-story, 42,687-gsf project includes a 35,000-sf structure with a 7,500-sf exterior deck for studying, dining, and socializing. The welcoming campus hub houses a 3,300-sf food service area, an 8,000-sf dining commons, a 3,000-sf fitness center, and a student lounge with a fireplace.
The University of Nevada, Reno is renovating the Leifson Physics and Chemistry Buildings to provide leading-edge research labs, classrooms, collaboration rooms, conference areas, and office environments. Designed by Van Woert Bigotti Architects, the $23 million project will optimize utilization in the two structures, which were built in 1967, to provide additional programmatic space including 839 asf for physics and 1,779 asf for chemistry.
The University of Glasgow is planning to construct an £86 million facility for the Adam Smith Business School and the university's postgraduate-taught community (PGT) in the United Kingdom. Designed by Hassell to promote cross-pollination with industry and government stakeholders, the 125,000-sf building will be arranged in three interconnected stacks for teaching, research, and collaboration.
