Cage and rack washers, while not the industry standard for large-scale animal cage washing, are more efficient and cost-effective to operate than tunnel washers, according to a study by two Boston architects with decades of experience designing animal facilities. Their research shows that the long-term operating savings compensates for the higher up-front cost.
Ground was officially broken on the $1.2 billion National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility on May 28, 2013. Located on the Manhattan campus of Kansas State University, the 574,000-gsf facility will support research on infectious disease agents and will contain BSL-4, BSL-3, BSL-3Ag, and BSL-2 laboratories. The first phase of the project is an $80 million, 87,000-sf central utility plant that is being built by joint venture partners McCarthy Building Companies and Mortenson Construction.
Research space at academic institutions increased 3.5 percent from fiscal year 2009 to 2011, one of the lowest two-year growth rates since a peak in 2001-03, according to the National Science Foundation's (NSF) most recent Survey of Science and Engineering Research Facilities. In that time period—the most recent data the NSF has—institutions planned fewer projects, and fewer projects came to fruition, an indicator that this "slow growth" trend will continue. The main growth area continued to be the biological and biomedical sciences.
Continued signs of stable economic growth indicate that the recovery is gaining momentum in many parts of the United States and Canada. Construction selling prices for institutional projects grew at a 6 percent annualized rate in 2012, on top of a 3 percent increase in 2011. Construction costs are expected to continue stabilizing and rising in many regions as market confidence and capital spending increase.
The University of British Columbia Centre for Comparative Medicine (CCM) is unique to British Columbia and is the largest facility of its kind in Western Canada. Spanning over 53,800 sf (5,000 square meters), the UBC CCM provides the flexibility to house and conduct research on medium- to large-sized animals and a variety of zoological species.
The Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory expanded and renovated its 19,500-sf laboratory in Amarillo to add a BSL-3 suite, the state's second such laboratory dedicated to animal disease diagnosis. The lab is designed to function primarily as a BSL-2, but contains built-in features and SOPs that allow it to convert to BSL-3 in the event of a suspected outbreak of a highly contagious animal and/or zoonotic disease.
The University of British Columbia's (UBC) state-of-the-art Centre for Comparative Medicine (CCM) demonstrates how providing an optimal environment for a variety of species not only is positive from an ethical standpoint, but also fosters better scientific research and can be a good business decision.
The Jackson Laboratory is building a four-story, 189,000-sf biomedical research facility in Farmington, Conn. Designed by Tsoi/Kobus Associates and Centerbrook Architects, the $135 million JAX Genomic Medicine building will house 300 researchers, technicians, and staff. The project is located on 17 acres at the University of Connecticut Health Science Center. Construction began on the facility in early 2013 and completion is expected in fall of 2014.
New technologies and approaches are making the renovation of academic science facilities a more financially attractive option for institutions facing limited budgets, constrained real estate, and aging buildings with prominent historic legacies. Recent data suggests that, depending on the type of technology applied, institutions can achieve significant savings by renovating existing buildings to meet the needs of modern science as opposed to demolishing and building new.
The Department of Homeland Security began site work for the 87,000-sf Central Utility Plant for the planned 574,000-sf National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility in March of 2013. The value of the construction contract is $80 million and the joint venture contractors for the project are McCarthy Building Companies and Mortenson Construction. Located at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kan., the facility will house heating and cooling systems as well as diesel generators for emergency power supply.
The University of California, Davis opened a $58.5 million research facility for the School of Veterinary Medicine in March of 2013. Featuring collaborative open laboratories, the four-story, 76,000-asf Research Facility 3B will support 40 teams investigating animal, human, and environmental health issues including zoonotic diseases, autism, nutrition, reproduction, respiratory disease, neurobiology, food safety, toxicology, and aquatic toxicology.
Louisiana State University opened the John Franks Equine and Large Animal Isolation Unit in Baton Rouge in March of 2013. Located at the school's Veterinary Teaching Hospital, the 11,000-sf facility provides eight stalls with separate patient care areas and advanced audiovisual monitoring systems. The building also includes exam rooms, procedural space, a diagnostic imaging suite, foaling stalls, and stalls with sling and hoist capabilities. The facility features a robust ventilation system for the containment of airborne diseases.
The University of Edinburgh began building the National Avian Research Facility in early 2013. The $22 million research laboratory represents a partnership of the Roslin Institute of the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies and The Pirbright Institute. The facility will include specific-pathogen-free (SPF) areas for research with genetically modified poultry. Completion is expected in late 2014.
The Clara Christie Centre for Mouse Genomics at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada, provides a centralized 33,000-sf facility for the production and breeding of transgenic mice, primarily serving researchers in western Canada. The center's design and operations address the needs not only of the research community, but also its animals, researchers, and staff, resulting in lower employee turnover, injuries, and sick days.
The University of Texas Pan American is planning to build a $96 million science facility in Edinburg, Texas. The 162,600-sf annex will accommodate programs in biology, chemistry, engineering, physics, geology, mathematics, health sciences, technology, and environmental studies. The project will provide two BSL-3 labs and five specialized research suites for imaging, tissue culture, instrumentation, radioisotopes, and an herbarium.
