Biomedical

Vanderbilt University Medical Center celebrated the opening of the $110 million Medical Research Building IV in Nashville on June 17, 2008. The 200,000-sf facility houses 86 laboratory modules and is built atop two existing buildings. Three research floors are sited above Light Hall, with five research floors and two vivarium floors above the newly renovated $5.5 million, 1,106-seat Langford Auditorium. The project was designed by Don Blair and Associates with Davis Brody Architects.

The University of California, Irvine will initiate construction in fall of 2008 on the $60.5 million Sue and Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center. Funded by an award of $27.2 million in May of 2008 from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), the 61,575-sf facility will house up to 26 researchers and is slated for completion in July of 2010. The three-story building will include a core stem cell lab, cell culture facilities, imaging, clinical space, and biotechnology training facilities.

Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin is constructing a 425,000-sf patient tower in Wauwatosa. The 12-story facility will increase bed count from 236 to 294, with the ability to add an additional 72 beds in the future. Completion is slated for 2009. Children’s is also partnering with the Medical College of Wisconsin to construct a 298,000-sf, $140 million translational research facility.

The National Institutes of Health awarded Scripps Translational Science Institute (STSI) a $20 million Clinical and Translational Science Award in June of 2008. STSI is a collaboration between The Scripps Research Institute and Scripps Health in partnership with other San Diego institutions. The award will support biomedical research in genomics, stem cells, and applications of wireless technology.

The University of Pennsylvania is planning to construct the $370 million Anne and Jerome Fisher Translational Research Center in Philadelphia. Housing labs and offices for 100 researchers and 900 staff, the 400,000-sf collaborative research facility is being designed by Rafael Viñoly Architects PC. The eight-story project is slated for completion in 2010.

The University of New Mexico is partnering with the city of Rio Rancho and developer Legacy Hospital Partners to construct a full service teaching hospital in Rio Rancho, N.M. The 75-bed facility will support medical education and nursing programs and is designed for ease of expansion to a total of 125 beds. Housing a 24-hour emergency room, cancer center, critical care unit, intensive care unit, and medical offices, the project will be built with sustainable design technologies. The project cost is estimated at between $100 million and $150 million.

Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine opened the Northwestern Nikon Imaging Center in Chicago on June 4, 2008. The collaborative core microscopy imaging facility was developed in partnership with Nikon Instruments to support biomedical research and the development of advanced imaging technologies. The Feinberg School's Cell Imaging Center will feature Nikon Live Scan Swept Field Confocal microscopes for the study of live cell events.

The National Institutes of Health will occupy the new completed Biomedical Research Center in Baltimore in August of 2008. The 500,000-sf laboratory building will accommodate biomedical research on conditions including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, aging, diabetes, and addiction. The $278 million facility has been undergoing vibration testing and mitigation since its completion in late 2006.

Emory University broke ground on the Claudia Nance Rollins Building in Atlanta on May 30, 2008. The 160,000-sf facility is part of the Rollins School of Public Health and is supported by a $50 million philanthropic donation. Connected by a glass bridge to the existing 137,000-sf School of Public Health facility, the multistory building will open in 2010. Designed to foster collaboration with industry partners and the U.S.

Gaithersburg-based MedImmune is constructing a 710,000-sf manufacturing complex in Frederick, Md.  Fluor Corp. of Irving, Texas, joined the project team in May of 2008 and will work with Parsons of Pasadena, Calif., the original engineering contractor. The $250 million project broke ground in early fall of 2006 and includes a 331,000-sf biologics production facility with two commercial-scale bioreactors. Occupancy is slated for early 2009.

The University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) is planning to construct the $105-million, 180,000-sf Neuroscience Research Building. Housing laboratory and clinical space for 78 principal investigators, the facility will built at the University’s Mission Bay campus.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison’s $160 million Interdisciplinary Research Complex is slated for completion by fall of 2008. Designed by Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership, the 473,000-sf facility will centralize and expand genetics, cellular, and virology research and will include pilot-scale fermentation capabilities. The project contractor is Oscar J. Boldt Construction of Madison.

The University of Louisville is constructing the 150,000-sf Clinical and Translational Research Building on its Health Sciences Campus in downtown Louisville, Ky. The $143.1 million facility broke ground in February of 2006 and is slated for completion in June of 2009. Designed by Arrasmith, Judd, Rapp, Chovan of Louisville and SmithGroup of Detroit, the project is being built by Messer Construction of Cincinnati.

Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University will open the $200 million Michael F. Price Center for Genetic and Translational Medicine on its Bronx campus in New York in June of 2008. The 201,000-sf, five-story facility is located in the Harold and Muriel Block Research Pavilion and houses 40 laboratories, research support space, and a 100-seat auditorium.

The University of California, Berkeley has selected contractor McCarthy to build the $160 million Li Ka Shing Center for Biomedical and Health Sciences. Accommodating research into the molecular basis for disease, the facility will focus on infectious diseases, gene regulation, stem cell biology, and neurodegenerative diseases. The project architect is Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership. Construction is slated to begin in 2008 and reach completion in 2011.