Northeastern University is planning to construct a 310,000-sf athletics and recreation complex on a two-acre site in Boston. Designed by Perkins&Will and DREAM Collaborative, the multifunctional center will include a Division I arena that can accommodate 4,050 attendees for ice hockey and 5,300 for basketball, with excellent sight lines to enhance the fan experience and enable television broadcasting.
The University of New England opened the Harold and Bibby Alfond Center for Health Sciences in June of 2025 in Portland, Maine. This dynamic new home for the College of Osteopathic Medicine was designed by SMRT Architects & Engineers to equip future doctors and health professionals with the vital skills to collaboratively deliver team-based care.
Ivanhoé Cambridge and Lendlease celebrated the completion of a $545 million life sciences center in Boston in June of 2025. Designed by SGA, FORUM strategically integrates Class A laboratory environments with collaborative workspaces and engaging community amenities. The 350,000-rsf facility offers flexible floor plates spanning 50,000 sf, supported by robust infrastructure to meet the demands of next-generation research programs.
Rice University broke ground in May of 2025 on the Moody Center Complex for Student Life (MCCSL) in Houston. Providing a flexible framework of public and private settings, the 75,000-sf facility is poised to become the cornerstone of student activity on campus. The project is strategically sited on the south side of the Central Quadrangle and will catalyze synergies with the Rice Memorial Center and Ley Student Center, which will be renovated upon completion of the new building.
The Government of Canada is investing in federal science to strengthen the safety of air, rail, marine and pipeline transportation systems that Canadians rely on every day. Located in Ottawa, the Transportation Safety and Technology Science (TSTS) hub will transform how federal researchers and private investigators work together by bringing them under one roof. Architecture49 and B+H Architects designed the 226,000-sf facility, which will serve as a shared space for the National Research Council and the Transportation Safety Board.
Stanford Health Care began construction on a new outpatient building in Redwood City in May of 2025. Designed by ZGF Architects and WRNS Studio, the state-of-the-art center will provide patients with expanded access to specialized, technology-enabled care where they live, work, and play. Standing nine stories high with a basement level, the 227,700-sf structure will feature a highly adaptable interior that can easily transform to accommodate changing needs.
Sanofi opened its new U.S. headquarters in May of 2025 at M Station West in Morristown, New Jersey. Developed by SJP Properties and Scotto Properties, the seven-story, 260,000-sf facility was designed by Gensler to collocate approximately 2,000 employees with leadership roles in business operations, finance, R&D, human resources, technology, general medicines, specialty care, vaccines, and manufacturing and supply.
Old Dominion University broke ground in April of 2025 on the Biological Sciences Building in Norfolk, Va. Representing the largest capital construction project in the institution's history, the $184 million development will enable students and faculty to explore a wide range of biomedical and ecological fields. Ballinger and VMDO Architects designed the 162,586-sf structure, which will provide flexible research labs for up to 30 investigators, teaching labs, core facilities, classrooms, and a 120-seat lecture hall.
Cornell University celebrated the opening of Atkinson Hall in April of 2025 in Ithaca, N.Y. Designed by Lake|Flato and SWBR as a nexus for impact-driven research across disciplinary boundaries, the $54 million facility addresses the diverse needs of four unique programs, all of which are university-wide in scope.
RAJ Sports broke ground in May of 2025 on a dual-sport performance center for professional women's soccer and basketball in Hillsboro, Ore. Designed by Populous, the $150 million project will create a collaborative setting with premium wellness amenities for the Portland Thorns Football Club and a new WNBA team. Uniquely tailored to the needs of female athletes, the complex will feature an elite training core that integrates leading-edge strength and conditioning modalities with sports science, sports medicine, and advanced recovery therapies.
The University of California, Davis celebrated the opening of a $1.1 billion destination for collaborative discovery in May of 2025 in Sacramento. Spanning 767,000 sf, the first phase of Aggie Square was designed by ZGF Architects as the flagship for a new model of innovation district that strategically collocates academic, industry, and community partners not only in the same building, but in many cases on the same floor.
Iowa State University dedicated the Therkildsen Industrial Engineering Building in May of 2025 in Ames. The four-story, 80,660-gsf facility provides a dynamic new home for the Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering's teaching, research, and administrative activities. The $70 million project features technically enhanced environments where students can gain the specialized knowledge to design tomorrow’s innovative, safe, and nimble production processes across all industry sectors.
As institutions aim to reduce both operational and embodied carbon emissions, laboratory designers can pursue this goal by specifying low-carbon materials and implementing new energy solutions during design and construction, as well as considering the building’s ongoing maintenance. Operational carbon is the carbon that is emitted to run the building over its lifetime. Embodied carbon is the carbon that is emitted in the extraction, manufacturing, and transportation, installation, maintenance, and disposal of materials used during the construction of the building.
Norfolk State University broke ground in April of 2025 on the $118 million New Science Building in Norfolk, Va. Designed by Work Program Architects in partnership with SmithGroup, the 131,376-sf facility will offer future-ready environments for multidisciplinary learning and discovery. Housing the departments of biology, chemistry, and physics, the four-story structure will enable the next generation of scientists to engage in immersive education and develop innovative solutions to real-word problems.
The University of California, Berkeley celebrated the opening of the Grimes Engineering Center in April of 2025. Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the $110 million project involved the partial demolition, renovation, and expansion of the Bechtel Engineering Center to create a vibrant destination for student collaboration, innovation, and entrepreneurship.
