Biomedical

The University of Louisville is constructing the $34.6 million Center for Predictive Medicine on its East Louisville campus in Shelby County, Ky. The 37,000-sf project is an NIH-funded Regional Biodefense Laboratory and houses BSL-3 facilities for research on emerging infectious diseases and bioterrorism prevention. The building broke ground in 2006 and is slated for occupancy in summer of 2009. The project contractor is Messer of Cincinnati with International Commissioning Engineers as commissioning agent.

Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies (TPIMS) completed its $40 million, 103,000-sf headquarters in Port St. Lucie, Fla., in September of 2008. Built by Suffolk Construction in the Florida Center for Innovation, the project began construction in February of 2008 and was completed three months ahead of schedule. The LEED-certified facility is comprised of office space and seven biomedical research laboratories. The project developer was Port St. Lucie-based Core Communities. Occupancy is slated for November of 2008.

Pfizer is investing $3 million to expand its Animal Genetics unit in Kalamazoo, Mich. Twenty employees will be relocated to Building 300 from a site in Louisiana that will be closed. The new Animal Genetics unit will open in March of 2009. The project is part of Pfizer’s $50 million consolidation of its Veterinary Medicine Research and Development operations to the Kalamazoo campus. Researchers will be transferred from sites in Richland Township, Pa., and Sandwich, U.K.

Texas A&M University will begin construction in November of 2008 on a $104 million emerging technologies engineering building in College Station, Texas. The facility will house the departments of biomedical engineering and industrial and systems engineering as well as interdisciplinary research space. Housing 112 engineering faculty members, the project will support the creation of advanced medical devices and therapeutics. Construction is expected to reach completion in June of 2011.

Hammersmith Hospital will begin construction in April of 2009 on a £100 million cardiovascular research facility in London. The three-story translational research facility will be housed in a larger six-story building that will include a genomics center and an imaging laboratory. The project is part of the Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Facility and Academic Health Sciences Centre, the first academic medical center in the United Kingdom. The 13,000-sm project is slated for completion in 2011.

Genzyme Corp. opened the $125 million Science Center in Framingham, Mass., on September 22, 2008. Designed by ARC/Architectural Resources Cambridge, the facility has attained LEED Gold sustainable design certification. The six-story, 180,000-sf building houses laboratories and offices united by a central atrium. The facility will house 350 employees engaged in cardiovascular, cancer, immunology, and neurology research.

Purdue University dedicated the $25 million Martin C. Jischke Biomedical Engineering Building in West Lafayette, Ind., on September 30, 2008. Created in partnership with the state of Indiana, the building houses the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering. The four-story facility features biomedical R&D laboratories and instructional facilities. Designed to support industry partnerships with medical device and biotechnology companies, the 91,000-sf interdisciplinary project includes core labs, teaching labs, faculty offices, classrooms, and meeting space.

The Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine will break ground in January of 2009 on a $115.2 million stem cell research facility in La Jolla, Calif. The Sanford Consortium, a nonprofit research group comprised of the Burnham Institute for Medical Research, Scripps Research Institute, the Salk Institute, and UC San Diego, received $43 million in May of 2008 from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). The 130,907-sf, four-story building is slated for completion in December of 2010.

RainDance Technologies dedicated its new headquarters and manufacturing facility in Lexington, Mass., on September 26, 2008. The 28,000-sf facility will house administrative offices and commercial manufacturing operations. RainDance Technologies is a provider of droplet-based microfluidic solutions for human health and disease research.

McGill University opened the $73 million Life Sciences Complex (LSC) in Montreal, Quebec, on September 24, 2008. The project is comprised of the Francesco Bellini Life Sciences Building and the Cancer Research Building. The interdisciplinary research complex will accommodate 60 scientists from McGill's Faculties of Science and Medicine and McGill University Health Centre. Research will focus on five biomedical areas: chemical biology, cancer, genetics of complex traits, cell information transfer systems, and developmental and reproductive biology.

Biomet opened the $3.5 million Orthopaedic Skills Academy in Warsaw, Ind., in August of 2008. The 27,000-sf facility houses a 48-seat auditorium, a conference room, and two instructional laboratories. Supporting training for orthopaedic surgeons to correctly utilize Biomet products, the academy includes 12 cadaver surgery stations with TV monitors.

Nottingham Trent University completed the £1.4 million Anthony Nolan Trust Cord Blood Centre at its Clifton campus in Nottingham in September of 2008. The combined blood bank and research center was built by Clean Modules Ltd and includes cleanroom facilities for processing and cryogenic storage. The project meets EU GMP and GLP regulations and will house stem cell donations from umbilical cords and placentas for disease treatment and research.

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia’s $400 million Colket Translational Research Building is slated for completion in 2010. Sited on Children's Hospital's South Campus, the 450,000-sf, eleven-story facility will include four laboratory floors, administrative offices, a cafeteria, conference space, and a two-story lobby. Four below-grade floors will house infrastructure, laboratory support, and a central utility plant.

Queensland University of Technology opened the $10.7 million Medical Engineering and Research Facility at The Prince Charles Hospital in Brisbane in September of 2008. The translational research facility will support collaboration between medical specialists and biomedical researchers in areas such as orthopaedic medicine, critical care, and artificial organs. Enabling surgeons and researchers to develop new methods and technologies on donor bodies, the project will foster biomedical innovation as well as providing medical training for healthcare professionals.

The Hauenstein Center at Saint Mary’s Healthcare is under construction in Grand Rapids, Mich. The $60 million neurological research and treatment facility began construction in November of 2006 and is slated for completion in February of 2009. Housing research, inpatient care, and outpatient services in a single location, the four-story, 145,000-sf building will include 66 patient beds, an emergency department, and clinical offices. LEED Silver certification for sustainable design will be sought for the project.