Biocontainment

The University of Nebraska Medical Center will construct the National Center for Health Security and Biopreparedness on its Omaha healthcare campus. Occupying the entire ground floor of the planned Global Center for Advanced Interprofessional Learning, the 30,000-sf facility will provide advanced simulation suites and inpatient quarantine areas for the management of infectious diseases such as Ebola. The biocontainment training center is supported by $19.8 million in funding from the U.S.

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.

University of Chicago Medicine broke ground in September of 2016 on a $43 million emergency department and trauma center. Located in Hyde Park adjacent to the Center for Care and Discovery, the 29,017-gsf facility will feature four trauma resuscitation bays, private patient rooms, a bariatric room with ceiling lifts, and a medical biocontainment unit. Completion is expected in early 2018.

The Department of Defense’s POW/MIA Accounting Agency has completed construction of the Forensic Identification Laboratory in Oahu, Hawaii. Designed by SmithGroupJJR, the three-story, 136,497-sf project will aid in the investigation, recovery, and accounting of Americans lost during the nation’s past conflicts.

Memorial University is planning to build the CAD$30 million Animal Resource Centre in St. Johns. Replacing two existing buildings, the 30,000-sf facility will support medical research in a variety of areas, including cancer, diabetes, mental health, obesity, stroke mechanisms, and osteoporosis. The project will include vivarium space for animal housing and is supported by CAD$14.4 million in federal funding.

James Cook University is planning to build the Australian Institute of Tropical Health and Medicine (AITHM) on the Cairns campus in Smithfield, Queensland. Designed by Jackson Architecture and Fisher & Buttrose Architects, the AUD$24.5 million facility will include a Physical Containment Level 2 (PC2) laboratory to accommodate research on virology, viral diseases, and vector control. The project will be constructed by Hutchinson Builders and completion is expected in late 2017.

The Jackson Laboratory (JAX) officially broke ground in August of 2016 on a $75 million mouse production facility in Ellsworth, Maine. The project involves the renovation and expansion of an existing 143,000-sf building to create an advanced 208,000-sf vivarium for the breeding and housing of genetic research mice. The facility will utilize robotic cage management technologies, eliminating the need for employees wearing personal protective equipment to work within containment areas. Window glove boxes will enable researchers to access the specimens.

Health Services Laboratories (HSL) is renovating an existing structure known as the Halo building to create its pathology laboratory headquarters in London. Comprising five subterranean levels and ten stories above grade, the 133,000-sf facility will provide a CL3 biocontainment laboratory, specialized research suites, and the largest automated blood sciences lab in the United Kingdom. The contractor for the £21 million fit-out project is ISG.

The Korea Research Institute of Bioscience & Biotechnology (KRIBB) broke ground in June of 2016 on the $16 million Support Center for Nonhuman Primates Resources in Jeongeup, South Korea. Located on a 775,000-sf site, the facility will act as a breeding colony for specific pathogen-free nonhuman primates that can be supplied to laboratories for biomedical and pharmaceutical research studies. Completion is expected in late 2017.

The University of Michigan is constructing the $261 million Biological Science Building in Ann Arbor. Designed by SmithGroup JJR and Ennead Architects, the 300,000-gsf facility will provide open, flexible laboratories for collaborative research as well as classrooms, offices, and a vivarium. The building is sited adjacent to the existing Life Sciences Institute to which it will physically connect. The general contractor for the project is Barton Malow Company and completion is expected in 2018.

Plymouth University is constructing the $22 million Derriford Research Facility at Plymouth Science Park in the United Kingdom. Housing advanced biomedical laboratories for the Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry, the 25,000-sf project will support clinical collaboration with the adjacent Derriford Hospital for the development of translational therapies. The facility will accommodate research on infectious diseases including Ebola and bovine TB as well as conditions such as Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's disease, and cancer.

The University of Wyoming began construction in July of 2016 on a $6.21 million renovation of its BSL-3 biocontainment laboratory in Laramie. The facility is being built as a 20,000-sf addition to the Department of Veterinary Sciences facility and will support research on wildlife and livestock diseases including brucellosis, plague, tularemia, and Q fever. The general contractor for the project is Sampson Construction of Cheyenne. Completion is expected in late spring of 2017.

The University of California, Irvine celebrated the official opening of its biosafety training lab in May of 2016. The BSL-3 facility has been designated as an approved instructional center by the National Institutes of Health’s National Biosafety & Biocontainment Training Program. The 1,600-sf lab was constructed in 2015 solely for the purpose of biosafety training and is the first of its kind in the United States.

The Pirbright Institute’s Plowright Building represents a visionary new model for biocontainment lab design that includes offices, conference areas, an atrium, and a cafeteria all within the containment zone, so researchers don’t need to shower in and out multiple times a day. This inverts the traditional approach to biocontainment design by putting people at the center and lab spaces at the perimeter. Researchers enter the building starting in a centralized non-containment zone and work their way toward the perimeter throughout the day, in a one-way flow.

Chapman University broke ground on the $130 million Center for Science and Technology in late April of 2016 in Orange, Calif. Accommodating the Schmid College of Science and Technology and the Crean College of Health and Behavioral Sciences, the three-story, 140,000-sf facility will provide advanced teaching and research space for biology, chemistry, biochemistry, physics, math, computational science, food science, psychology, and health science.