Biocontainment

Washington State University’s three-story, 62,000-sf Paul G. Allen Center for Global Animal Health is the first of a two-phase project dedicated to infectious disease research and animal diagnostics. It houses the Paul G. Allen School for Global Animal Health, which provides innovative solutions to global infectious disease challenges through research, education, global outreach, and application of disease control at the human-animal interface. The second phase will be completion of the Washington Animal Disease and Diagnostic Laboratory.

The 351,0000-gsf Consolidated Forensic Laboratory (CFL) in the District of Columbia serves the Department of Forensic Services, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, and the Department of Public Health. The building rises seven stories above ground; two below-grade levels contain evidence storage, vehicle exam, firing range/bullet recovery, lab/exam areas, BSL-3, autopsy, support lab areas, offices/conference space, and the parking garage.

The $102 million Central Reference Laboratory (CRL) is being constructed in Kazakhstan to support research on emerging infectious diseases and pathogens. The 87,000-sf biocontainment facility will provide 5,400 sf of BSL-3 space as well as BSL-2 research areas. The project is being created in collaboration with the U.S. Defense Threat Reduction Agency and will be affiliated with the Kazakhstan Scientific Center for Quarantine and Zoonotic Diseases. The CRL is located in Almaty and is expected to open in 2015.

The new ANSI Standard Z9.14-201X will govern the testing and performance verification methodologies for ventilation systems for BSL-3 and ABSL-3 facilities. High containment laboratory verification is the systematic review and evaluation of all safety features and processes associated with the laboratory, including engineering controls, personal protective equipment, SOPs, administrative controls, and building and system integrity.

Texas A&M University is building an 11,000-sf research aviary for the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences. Located in College Station, the facility will include a biocontainment laboratory, a bird hospital, quarantine suites, two isolation rooms, classrooms, and administrative offices. Completion is expected in May of 2014.

The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) will be collecting comments through Sept. 10 on its new standard, Testing and Performance-Verification Methodologies for Ventilation Systems for Biosafety Level 3 (BSL-3) and Animal Biosafety Level 3 (ABSL-3) Facilities, also known as ANSI Standard Z9.14-2013. The 127-page document provides guidance for the inspection and testing of ventilation system components of new or existing BSL-3 and ABSL-3 laboratories, including research, pharmaceutical, and insectary facilities.

Annual revalidation of BSL-3 biocontainment facilities—which involves verifying that systems are operating to specifications—is important not only to maintain a safe working environment for scientific needs, but also to reduce utility and maintenance costs and protect the substantial financial investments such buildings represent. The time and expense of the revalidation process can be minimized with careful preplanning.

The five-story, 237,000-sf Sandler Neurosciences Center creates a new hub for the Mission Bay campus of the University of California, San Francisco, with the consolidation of the Department of Neurology, the Neurodegenerative Disease Research program, the Center for Integrative Neurosciences, and the Institute for Neurodegenerative Diseases. The 38-year lease, after which UCSF will own the building, represents the first time the University of California System has used a public-private-partnership funding model for a solely programmatic facility.

The University of Minnesota will break ground in fall of 2013 on a $63 million microbiology research facility in Minneapolis. The 80,000-sf project will be the final building to be constructed in UM's $292 million Biomedical Discovery District and will house the Department of Microbiology and other departments and schools within the Academic Health Center. Designed by BWBR Architects, the facility will provide labs, offices, collaboration areas, pharmaceutical R&D suites, and biocontainment space for the study of infectious diseases.

The Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute of Florida (VGTI), an offshoot of the VGTI at Oregon Health and Science University, is dedicated to developing vaccines and immunotherapies to combat diseases such as AIDS, cancer, tuberculosis, and diseases associated with emerging viral infections such as Dengue fever and pandemic influenza. The three-story, 101,000-sf facility contains 11,000 nsf of vivarium/containment space with integrated procedure and in-vivo imaging spaces, nine bioscience research lab groups, specialty support labs, offices, and conference space.

Emory University began occupying the $90 million Health Sciences Research Building in Atlanta in June of 2013. Designed by ZGF Architects and built by Brasfield & Gorrie, the 200,000-sf facility provides open labs for research on immunology and vaccines, neurosciences, drug discovery, pediatric health, cancer, gastroenterology, biomedical engineering, and human genetics.

Li Ka Shing Center for Biomedical and Health Sciences at UC Berkeley serves about 450 researchers in the fields of cancer biology, infectious diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, and stem cell biology. They are pursuing a multi-disciplinary approach to studying the molecular basis of these illnesses in order to research the root causes of diseases such as cancer, HIV, tuberculosis, and Alzheimer’s.

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.

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 State of Vermont broke ground on a $39 million laboratory for the Department of Health in late April of 2013. Located in Colchester, the 47,844-sf building will be connected to the University of Vermont's existing biochemistry research facility to foster collaboration with investigators in the College of Medicine. The lab will house research programs on zoonotic disease agents and will support the identification of pathogens using molecular methods. The cost of construction is $30 million. Completion is expected by fall of 2014.