Animal Research

A new federally funded $25-million research laboratory will be located on the University of Kentucky's College of Agriculture campus in Lexington, Ky. Design of the new facility has been awarded to the Washington, D.C., office of RTKL Associates Inc. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service will manage the building, which will include a 64,000-sf lab and a 11,000-sf greenhouse. The greenhouse is scheduled to begin construction in early 2007.

The University of Saskatchewan is initiating projects totaling between $460-million and $490-million on its Saskatoon campus. The $250-million Academic Health Sciences Center is currently in the design phase with construction to begin in 2007 and reach completion in 2010-2012. The seven-story facility will house an animal research facility and a BSL-2 laboratory. A second building will house a new school of public health, a library, meeting rooms, and a 500-seat lecture theater.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has initiated the second phase of construction on its 331,000-sf Genetic Medicine Building (GMB). The $120-million multidisciplinary research facility, comprised of seven stories plus a mechanical penthouse, has a deep footprint of approximately 40,000 sf of contiguous space. The GMB is designed around a central atrium that brings light into the entire building, even into the enclosed labs and offices through punched-out windows and open doors.

The University of Washington will begin renovating laboratories at the Washington Regional Primate Research Center in Seattle in spring of 2006. Currently equipped for BSL-2 research, the primate facility will be upgraded to meet new research standards. The project is funded in part by $3.7-million from the National Center for Research Resources (NCCR). Completion is expected by year-end 2006.

The Province of Alberta opened a new $14-million animal disease research and testing lab in Edmonton on Feb. 7, 2006. The BSL-3 facility will accommodate testing for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), chronic wasting disease, and avian influenza. The Alberta Research Council and the University of Alberta will also use the facility for animal disease research. The 730-square meter, two-story facility features modular, flexible design and biocontainment necessities such as stringent air and waste handling systems.

Saint Louis University will construct a $67-million research building for the School of Medicine on its midtown Saint Louis campus. The 206,000-sf facility will have a ten-story tower on the north end and will be connected at the south end to the School of Medicine by a covered walkway. The first floor will be comprised of clinical core lab space, with flexible, modular research laboratories and offices on floors two through eight.

Virginia Tech began construction in September 2005 on a 72,000-sf life sciences research building on its Blacksburg, Va., campus. The three-story building will house animal care facilities and life science laboratories including microbiology labs, BSL-3 facilities, and a basement floor small animal vivarium. Meeting NIH and CDC research standards, the building will accommodate over 200 faculty, students, and staff. The total project cost is approximately $35 million. Completion is slated for summer of 2007.

The University of Saskatchewan is planning to begin construction on its Academic Health Sciences Centre in Saskatoon by July of 2007. Estimated to cost between $140 million and $160 million, the facility is expected to be comprised of two buildings. The first would be attached to the existing Health Sciences structure and would house BSL-2 laboratory space and an animal research facility. The second building would house a 500-seat lecture hall, meeting rooms, a new school of public health, and a relocated health sciences library.

Menlo Park, Calif.-based Bridge Pharmaceuticals is opening a 100,000-sf research facility in the Zhong-guancun Life Science Park in Beijing, China. The facility is designed to meet U.S. regulatory standards for animal testing and laboratory practice. Additionally, the contract research company is planning to acquire a preclinical testing facility in Taiwan.

The Tulane National Primate Research Center has received two grants of $4 million each from the National Center for Research Resources of the National Institutes of Health for new construction and expansion of its current breeding facility in Covington, La. The first grant will fund construction of a facility that will house monkeys assigned to a variety of research studies and nursery facilities for infant monkeys.

The Montreal Heart Institute is initiating a $24-million project to expand and renovate its Research Centre in Montreal, Canada. Slated for completion in 2008, the project will expand the south block, known as the Pavillon Jean-Louis Levesque, by 6,125 square meters on three floors. A catheterization and research space will be built, and the first three floors of the south block will be reorganized.

Franklin & Marshall College celebrated the groundbreaking of the $45-million Ann & Richard Barshinger Life Sciences & Philosophy Building in October 2005.

Ohio University is planning four new capital projects on its Athens campus:

Construction of two new laboratories and a central energy plant upgrade for Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is nearing completion on its Quisset Campus in Woods Hole, Mass. One laboratory, the 32,000-sf marine research facility, was constructed primarily for researchers to study marine mammals and their environment. The second new building is a 35,000-sf biogeochemistry laboratory to study organic materials in the marine environment. The two laboratories increase the Institution's scientific research space by more than 20 percent.

Baylor College of Medicine celebrated the groundbreaking of the Margaret M. Alkek Building for Biomedical Research in Houston on Sept. 16, 2005. The 203,000-gsf, eight-story facility will feature flexible lab and office space designed to foster interdisciplinary collaboration in areas including cardiovascular sciences, diabetes, cancer, pharmacogenomics, imaging, informatics, and proteomics. Completion is expected in May 2007.