Johns Hopkins University opened the John G. Rangos Sr. Life Sciences Building in East Baltimore, Md., on April 11, 2008. The University will occupy 100,000-sf of lab and office space in the 278,000-sf facility. The $60 million, seven-story building will provide interdisciplinary research space for the Institute for Basic Biomedical Sciences in the areas of epigenetics, sensory biology, cell dynamics, and metabolism and obesity research.
Duke University School of Medicine is planning to build a $35 million medical education facility in Durham, N.C. Housing instruction and clinical and basic research, the Education Center will include classrooms, lecture halls, offices, meeting rooms, and simulation laboratories for team-based learning programs. Additionally, Duke will build a $15 million facility for the McGovern-Davison Children’s Health Center consolidating inpatient and outpatient care for children and adolescents.
Roche Molecular Diagnostics (RMD) opened a $57.5 million research facility at its global headquarters campus in Pleasanton, Calif., on April 3, 2008. Designed by DES Architects + Engineers to meet LEED sustainable design criteria, the project will enable RMD to complete the consolidation of its West Coast operations. The 135,000-sf facility was built by DPR Construction and features molecular biology and core support laboratories.
The University of Alberta is constructing the $12 million Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases in its Environmental Engineering Buildings in Edmonton. The first phase of the project, which opened in December of 2007, consists of two renovated laboratories. Phase two is comprised of four additional laboratories housing researchers from the faculties of Science, Medicine & Dentistry, and Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences.
Texas A&M University broke ground in April of 2008 on the $47.8 million Texas Institute of Preclinical Studies (TIPS) in the A&M Research Park in Bryan. The 112,000-sf biomedical and animal research facility will support development and commercialization of therapies for diseases including cancer, heart disease, and Alzheimer’s.
The Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute will officially open its new $32 million Alzheimer’s research facility on West Virginia University's Morgantown health sciences campus on September 19, 2008. Housing 20 researchers, the 78,000-sf facility includes 20,000-sf of lab and office space, open labs with ten feet of bench space per researcher, microscopy and electrophysiology labs, a darkroom, and a commons area. The three-story facility will be able to accommodate up to 100 researchers.
East Carolina University rededicated the Carol Belk Building in Greenville, N.C., on March 28. Designed by MHAworks, the $9 million renovation project transformed the existing facility to create a home of the College of Health and Human Performance. Designed to promote interaction, the Belk Building houses research laboratories up to BSL-3, teaching labs with low flow hoods and customized storage systems, three auditoriums, offices, work rooms, and conference rooms. The facility features extensive daylighting and an exterior low-e glazing.
The University of California, San Diego has selected Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects to design a new biomedical research facility on the Health Sciences campus in La Jolla. The project will include approximately 150,000-sf of wet-bench laboratories, laboratory support, laboratory core facilities, and office/conference space to accommodate biomedical research programs at UCSD’s School of Medicine, including a new multi-department program in genomic medicine and expanded department of neurosciences.
Scripps Research Institute is constructing three buildings totaling 350,000-sf on 40 acres adjoining Florida Atlantic University in Jupiter. Slated for completion by year-end 2008, the facilities will house biomedical research laboratories, technology space, and offices. A grand opening is set for Feb. 26, 2009. The buildings under construction at Scripps Florida include the Molecular and Biomedical Research building, the Advanced Technologies and Administration building, and the Drug Discovery building.
Response Biomedical Corporation will relocate to its new global headquarters in Vancouver, B.C. on March 31, 2008. The 46,000-sf specialized use facility was specifically designed and constructed for development, GMP manufacturing, and distribution of point-of-care (POC) medical diagnostic test kits. The new facility should allow manufacturing scale-up from approximately 500,000 tests currently manufactured per year to four million tests per year by mid-2008, based on the demands of industry partners including 3M and Shinogi & Co. of Japan.
Yale School of Medicine completed the fit-out of a 70,000-sf translational research facility at its New Haven, Conn., campus in March of 2008. The project contractor was Tucker Mechanical, a subsidiary of EMCOR Group. Tucker Mechanical provided all HVAC and plumbing for the 70,000 square-foot building which was originally designed as an office. Comprised of five floors and a penthouse, the building was constructed to attain LEED certification.
Yale University is planning to construct a 180,000-sf biomedical research building in New Haven, Conn. Designed by Pelli Clark Pelli, the five-story facility will be comprised of an underground lab support floor, three floors of laboratories, and a mechanical penthouse and greenhouses on the fourth floor. LEED Gold certification for sustainable design will be sought for the project. The research facility will be connected to the Kline Biology Tower by a bridge.
The Qatar Foundation began construction in early 2008 on the Sidra Medical and Research Center in Doha, Qatar. Designed by Cesar Pelli of Pelli Clarke Pelli and executive architectural firm Ellerbe Becket, the center will provide world-class clinical care, medical education, and biomedical research facilities. Funded by $7.9 billion (US) by the Qatar Foundation, the project is located on the Education City campus near Weill Cornell Medical College.
The University of Florida celebrated the topping out of the new UF Biomedical Sciences Building in Gainesville on February 29, 2008. The six-story, 160,000-sf multidisciplinary facility is slated for completion in early 2009.
Boston University broke ground in late February 2008 on its new facility at Dubai Healthcare City (DHCC). The project, part of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Academic Medical Centre, is slated for completion in 2011. The facility will house graduate and postgraduate programs in dentistry and allied health sciences.
