Collaboration

The University of North Texas broke ground in October of 2016 on the Interdisciplinary Research and Education Building in Fort Worth. Supported by $80 million in state funding, the 173,000-sf facility will accommodate a progressive, team-based pedagogy for health sciences and interprofessional education. Designed by Treanor Architects, the building will house the College of Pharmacy, the North Texas Eye Research Institute, and the Institute for Molecular and Therapeutic Development.

Michigan State University opened the $70 million Bio Engineering Facility in East Lansing in October of 2016. Supporting interdisciplinary biomedical research, the 130,000-sf building provides modular open labs and offices for faculty from the colleges of Engineering, Human Medicine, and Natural Science. Promoting collaboration with many other departments, including veterinary medicine, nursing, and osteopathy, the sustainably designed project is physically connected to both the Clinical Center and Life Sciences buildings to promote the sharing of core resources.

The State University of New York (SUNY) Upstate Medical University opened the final phase of its Biotech Accelerator in September of 2016. Located in Syracuse, N.Y., the 60,000-sf facility was designed by The S/L/A/M Collaborative and constructed by Murnane Building Contractors. Providing wet labs, dry labs, and core research space with shared equipment, the project houses the Medical Innovation and Novel Discovery (MIND) Center and the Molecular Pathology Next Generation Sequencing Lab.

The University of Texas at Arlington broke ground in October of 2016 on the $125 million Science and Engineering Innovation and Research Building. Designed by Page and ZGF Architects to support team-based learning and discovery, the six-story, 220,000-sf facility will provide two floors of instructional space, with research activities occupying four floors and a basement level.

Arizona State University broke ground in October of 2016 on the $120 million Biodesign Institute Building C in Tempe. Designed by ZGF (Zimmer Gunsul Frasca) and BWS Architects to promote interaction, the 188,000-gsf project will accommodate up to 80 principal investigators arranged in collaborative neighborhoods over five floors and a basement level. The multidisciplinary research building will house a compact X-ray laser facility, wet labs, high bay spaces, and offices.

Oklahoma State University broke ground in October of 2016 on the $35 million Undergraduate Engineering and Technology Laboratory Building in Stillwater. Supporting a progressive pedagogy for interactive education, the 70,000-sf facility will provide 14 undergraduate research labs, a lecture hall, and flexible student project space. Chemical, biomedical, and environmental science labs will feature configurable pilot plants for hands-on instruction in manufacturing and bioprocessing.

Johnson & Johnson Innovation (JJI) is creating the Center for Device Innovation at Texas Medical Center (CDI @ TMC) in Houston. Designed by Gensler, the facility will feature a 26,000-sf makerspace for the development of advanced medical devices, from initial concept through to commercialization. The center is JJI’s second collaborative R&D project at the Texas Medical Center and is slated for occupancy in July of 2017.

Cleveland State University broke ground in October of 2016 on a $60 million expansion of the Washkewicz College of Engineering. Constructed by Gilbane Building Company as an addition to Fenn Hall, the four-story, 100,000-sf building will feature a makerspace with 3D printing equipment and computer-aided design stations as well as traditional manufacturing tools.

The University of Kentucky dedicated the $112 million Jacobs Science Building in October of 2016. Designed by Payette and JRA Architects, the flexible 240,000-sf facility features technology-enabled active learning (TEAL) classrooms, collaborative teaching labs, advanced instrumentation suites, lecture halls, and outdoor classrooms. The sustainably designed project was built by Messer Construction. 

Central Washington University opened the $64 million Science II facility in October of 2016 in Ellensburg, Wash. Housing the departments of geological sciences and physics as well as programs in math and astronomy, the five-story, 120,000-sf building features an 80-seat lecture hall and planetarium, an observatory tower, optics and laser labs, an ice core lab, a scanning electron microscopy suite, and an acoustic lab with an anechoic chamber.

The University of Notre Dame opened the $80 million McCourtney Hall of Molecular Sciences and Engineering in October of 2016 in South Bend, Ind. The four-story, 220,000-sf research building houses the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Providing 100,000 sf of laboratory space, the interdisciplinary facility comprises two wings connected by a collaborative core of faculty offices and conference rooms.

Autodesk opened the Building, Innovation, Learning and Design (BUILD) Space in Boston in October of 2016. The 70,000-sf research and development center features a 34,000-sf fabrication lab for the creation of advanced construction products and technologies. Designed to promote collaboration between industry, academia, and architecture, engineering, and construction firms, the facility houses a five-ton bridge crane, six industrial robots, 3D printers, and workshops for metal, wood, and composite materials.

The new 320,000-sf Knight Cancer Institute research building currently being built by Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) on the south waterfront in Portland, Ore., will maximize scientific collaboration for more than 500 researchers through the use of flexible floorplans, shared equipment cores, and new ratio configurations for wet and dry lab space.

Lake Forest College is engaged in a $43 million renovation and expansion of the renamed Lillard Science Center in Lake Forest, Ill. The project includes the construction a large addition as well as the development of two entirely new wings. Designed by Stantec to support progressive pedagogies for interdisciplinary teaching and research, the completed 130,000-sf facility will provide collaborative classrooms and laboratories for programs in biology, chemistry, physics, psychology, neuroscience, and environmental studies.

Research has begun at the £650 million Francis Crick Institute in London. Designed by HOK in partnership with PLP Architecture, the 10-story, 980,000-sf facility can accommodate 1,250 scientists and 250 support staff engaged in interdisciplinary biomedical research. The Crick Institute represents a partnership between University College London, Imperial College London, and King’s College London, working in collaboration with the UK Medical Research Council, the Wellcome Trust, and Cancer Research UK.