Biomedical

The University of Colorado broke ground in September of 2009 on the Jennie Smoly Caruthers Biotechnology Building in Boulder. The construction cost of the 257,000-sf facility is estimated at between $120 million and $145 million. Designed to foster interdisciplinary biomedical research, the Biotechnology Building will house scientists from eight departments. Occupancy is stated for fall of 2011. An additional 54,000-sf wing may be built in a second construction phase.

Beijing Vigoo Biological Co. is building the New Vaccine National Engineering Research Center in the Beijing Economic-Technological Developement Area. The 22,749-sm project will cost RMB 200 million to build and is slated for completion in December of 2010. Construction began in late June of 2009. Supporting vaccine research and development for H1N1 influenza, hepatitis, and measles, the facility will include five pilot-scale production lines, laboratories, and support. Beijing Vigoo Biological Co.

The University of Oklahoma Health Center is under construction in Oklahoma City. Five projects totaling $534 million are under way on the 325-acre campus. New construction includes the OU Children’s Physician Building and the Cancer Institute. Additions are being built to the existing Oklahoma Blood Institute, the Dean A. McGee Eye Institute, and the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation facilities.

Medicago is partnering with Genepole to construct a flu vaccine manufacturing facility in Evry, France. The facility will utilize Medicago’s plant-based vaccine production technology. Construction of the facility will commence pending successful phase one clinical trials of an H5N1 vaccine.

Cord Blood America began building a 17,000-sf laboratory in Las Vegas in August of 2009. The facility will provide stem cell storage, processing, testing, and cryogenic storage when it opens by year-end 2009. A second construction phase will include expanded cryogenic facilities and a research laboratory.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is planning to construct two new office buildings in Chamblee, Ga. The $300 million project will create two research support facilities. A 294,800-gsf building and a 285,500-gsf building with accompanying parking decks will enable the CDC to foster interaction and collaboration by consolidating 2,000 researchers currently dispersed in leased locations.

The University of Buffalo and Kaleida Health broke ground on a $291 million clinical care and research facility on August 3, 2009. Located on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, the ten-story, 600,000-sf project includes Kaleida Health’s Global Vascular Institute, the University at Buffalo’s Center for Clinical and Translational Research, and a biosciences incubator for the university. The collaborative facility will connect to Buffalo General Hospital and is slated for completion by late 2011.

Pennsylvania State University celebrated the opening of the $121 million Hershey Cancer Institute on June 26, 2009. The 176,000-sf facility is located on the Hershey Medical Center Campus in University Park, Pa. Designed by Payette of Boston, the translational research facility integrates clinical treatment and medical research. The project team included associate architect Array Healthcare Facilities Solutions, construction manager Gilbane Building, and MEP engineer Bard, Rao + Athanas (BR+A).

Esco announced the launch of a new range of Pharmacon Downflow Booths in July of 2009. Downflow booths are used in the pharmaceutical, chemical, and food industries for operations such as sampling, grinding, dispensing, and filling, which generate airborne particles. The booths support processes that involve hazardous, toxic, or sensitizing materials and protect operators and adjoining areas from exposure to aerosols of the process materials.Esco Pharmacon Downflow Booths feature:

The United Kingdom’s Medical Research Council is constructing the £197 million Laboratory of Molecular Biology at Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge. Designed by RMJM to foster interaction and collaboration, the facility will provide 27,000 asm of low-vibration research space for 400 scientists and 200 support staff. Construction began on the three-story project in March of 2009 and completion is expected in January of 2012.

Medtronic will open the 150,000-sf Diabetes Therapy Management and Education Center in San Antonio in late summer of 2009. Medtronic will hire approximately 1,400 employees during a five-year period to staff the new facility. The LEED Silver certified building will enable the medical technology company to expand its diabetes products research and manufacturing operations.

The Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation opened its 9,000-sf vaccine manufacturing facility in Rockville, Md., in April of 2009. The project will support tuberculosis vaccine development and production, as well as research into aerosol vaccine formulations. The BSL-2 facility was built by general contractor Whiting-Turner of Baltimore.

Imperial College London, in partnership with Imperial College Healthcare NHS, broke ground on a £99 million biomedical research facility in April of 2009. Slated for completion in late 2011, the six-story building will be part of the planned Academic Health Science Center in London. Housing 450 researchers, the facility will provide laboratories for translational research in cardiovascular disease, arthritis, diabetes, and obesity.

South Dakota State University is building the $51 million Avera Health and Science Center in Brookings, S.D. Created in partnership with Avera Health, the 144,000-sf facility is comprised of 96,000-sf of new construction and 48,000-sf of renovated space. Housing the College of Pharmacy and the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, the center will provide classrooms, teaching and research laboratories, and faculty offices. Construction began on the Avera Health and Science Center in June of 2008. The facility will open in fall of 2010.

Pfizer dedicated its newly renovated laboratory and office facility in Kalamazoo, Mich., in April of 2009. The 780,000-sf project will serve as the global headquarters for Pfizer’s animal genetics and veterinary medicine R&D operations. Housing 680 employees, the $75 million project will consolidate staff from Richland Township, Pa., and Sandwich, U.K.