Vancouver Community College is planning to construct the CAD$291.3 million Centre for Clean Energy and Automotive Innovation on its Broadway campus in Vancouver, British Columbia. Designed by Stantec, the 343,832-sf facility will empower students to participate in the clean energy economy with technology-rich teaching labs, flexible classrooms, and specialized venues for collaborative education.
Caltech has begun site work for the Dr. Allen and Charlotte Ginsburg Center for Quantum Precision Measurement in Pasadena, Calif. Designed by HOK, the four-story, 116,451-sf facility will support interdisciplinary research programs in quantum sensing, quantum information, and gravitational-wave detection. Open interaction zones and collaboration spaces will promote dynamic knowledge exchange and discovery, complemented by a range of office settings and meeting rooms.
The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston broke ground in June of 2023 on a $299 million facility for the School of Public Health. Located in the Texas Medical Center’s Helix Park, the 350,000-sf tower will provide leading-edge research labs, collaboration spaces, and classrooms for programs in epidemiology, genetics, nutrition, health policy, data science, and health promotion. Featuring an expansive auditorium, the 10-story building will integrate advanced distance-learning technologies to enable both in-person and remote instruction.
Purdue University is planning to construct the $160 million Nursing and Pharmacy Education Building in West Lafayette, Ind. Fostering interprofessional collaboration and discovery, the 186,000-sf facility will strategically collocate the College of Health and Human Services with the College of Pharmacy. The four-story structure will mirror modern healthcare settings with clinical simulation labs, a pharmacy practice lab, and a nuclear pharmacy lab.
Sterling Bay broke ground in May of 2023 on Pacific Center, a $650 million life sciences campus in the Sorrento Mesa area of San Diego. Designed by Gensler, the initial $265 million phase of construction will create two fully equipped research buildings linked by a central plaza. The all-electric structures will offer a total of 500,000 sf of lab, office, and conference space for biomedical and pharmaceutical tenants.
The National Institutes of Health broke ground in May of 2023 on a $630 million addition to the NIH Clinical Center in Bethesda. Designed by HOK, the Surgery, Radiology, and Laboratory Medicine Wing will enable the discovery of innovative diagnostics, therapies, and cures for a wide range of diseases and conditions.
The Ohio State University opened the $237.5 million Pelotonia Research Center in May of 2023 in Columbus. Collocating research programs in life sciences, engineering, data sciences, and environmental health, the 305,000-sf building will accelerate the creation of novel solutions for complex scientific problems. Pelli Clarke & Partners and Moody Nolan designed the five-story structure with integrated laboratory neighborhoods to foster collaboration and discovery.
How do you measure the value of research? That’s the question many universities are contending with as they rethink and revise their master plans to reflect declining enrollments, a complex funding environment, and the realities of older facilities, amid competition for scarce resources. A fresh approach to space planning and benchmarking can help clarify the possibilities.
The U.S. Department of Energy opened the $19.5 million Research and Innovation Laboratory (RAIL) in May of 2023 in Golden, Colo. Located at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the 15,700-sf facility features 5,500 sf of cross-disciplinary collaboration space for the development of pioneering energy solutions and technologies. Catalyzing innovation at the intersection of chemistry, materials science, bioscience, and engineering, RAIL offers additional wet lab capacity, which is in high demand on NREL’s South Table Mountain campus.
Matrix Innovation Center opened the Matrix ONE lab and office building in May of 2023 in the Amsterdam Science Park. Designed by MVRDV, the 140,000-sf structure provides flexible labs and offices, a 100-seat auditorium, and a range of settings for informal interaction. As well as offering leasable space for private companies, Matrix ONE houses SustainaLab, a research hub for the creation of climate change solutions.
“Smart labs” and the Internet of Things—with sensors and actuators that gather information about the lab environment and adjust its systems according to that data—have been around for a while. But a new wave of construction is allowing designers to incorporate smart concepts from the ground up, providing sensitive and responsive ventilation and airflow systems to a newly COVID-sensitized lab marketplace. Architects and engineers are working together to create flexible systems that respond in real time to conditions inside a research lab. “In a nutshell, we would like a smart building to operate in correlation with its occupancy and utilization,” says Tom Smith, president and CEO of 3Flow.
University College London is constructing IoN-DRI, a £281.6 million neuroscience center where 500 clinicians and investigators will work together to translate research discoveries into innovative solutions for patient care. The interdisciplinary complex will collocate the UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology (IoN), the UK Dementia Research Institute (DRI), and the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery.
The University of California, Berkeley broke ground on a $95 million expansion of the Bechtel Engineering Center in April of 2023. Designed by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, the 35,570-sf project will add two new floors to the 43-year-old structure to create a vibrant nexus for multidisciplinary innovation. A transparent steel and glass pavilion will leverage floor-to-ceiling windows, exterior terraces, and a central skylight to provide enhanced access to natural light and views, with an extended canopy porch minimizing direct solar exposure.
The University of South Florida opened the $56 million Judy Genshaft Honors College in May of 2023 in Tampa. Designed by Morphosis with FleischmanGarciaMaslowski as executive architect, the 85,000-sf facility features interwoven environments for learning, study, and interdisciplinary exchange. A soaring central atrium opens onto adjoining flexible spaces that can be connected to accommodate large events.
Emory University opened the $440 million Winship Cancer Institute in May of 2023 in Atlanta. Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in collaboration with May Architecture, the 455,000-sf facility integrates translational research with clinical care to optimize patient outcomes. The 17-story building offers 80 inpatient beds, six operating rooms, linear accelerators, imaging suites, infusion rooms, wellness areas, and a stunning double-height lobby.
