The Commonwealth of Virginia is constructing the 96,568-sf Virginia Center for Behavioral Rehabilitation (VCBR) in Burkeville. Built by Gilbane Development Company under a turnkey approach for the Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services, the 100-bed VCBR will be the first of its kind in Virginia. A planned expansion will bring an additional 200 beds.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has selected Cannon Design and Westlake Reed Leskosky to design a new eight-story patient tower for the Louis Stokes VA Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio. The tower will be located on the center’s Wade Park campus. The 268,000-sf facility will house the hospital’s comprehensive rehabilitation center, nursing and home care department, mental health department, and a number of other patient care programs. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2007 and reach completion in late 2009.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) opened its new $22-million Science and Technology Facility in Golden, Colo., in July of 2006. Designed to consolidate its research facilities into a single campus, the building enables NREL scientists to collaborate with private sector companies in photovoltaics and energy efficiency research. The Science and Technology Facility will also house the Department of Energy's local field office and 130 employees. Three additional facilities are planned at the site with construction beginning in 2007.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has selected Raleigh-based Highwoods Properties to build a $21.7-million, 91,000-sf office facility on two acres in Atlanta. Construction is slated to begin in the fourth quarter of 2006 and reach completion in the third quarter of 2007. The Department of Homeland Security will lease the facility.
The State of Maryland is constructing the new State Forensic Medical Center at the University of Maryland's BioPark in Baltimore. The 120,000-sf facility will house the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner and will adhere to strict biosafety laboratory criteria. The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene may occupy the remaining 26,000-sf in the six-story facility. The first level of the facility will accommodate loading and parking. The joint venture of Gaudreau Inc.
The Department of Homeland Security broke ground on the $128-million National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center (NBACC) in Frederick, Md., on June 26, 2006.
The new $144-million San Francisco Federal Building is slated for completion in November of 2006. Construction began on the 605,000-sf project in June 2002; the facility is now 75 percent complete. Featuring “green” building systems, the 18-story, 240-foot glass tower will be only 65 feet wide, allowing the entrance of natural light from both sides. An unconventional HVAC system, including opening windows, will replace standard air conditioning.
The new $97-miillion National Security Sciences building has opened at Los Alamos National Laboratory. The design-build project contains 680 offices, a 600-person lecture hall, and administrative and staff facilities. Work in the new facility will focus on solutions to national security issues.
Northrop Grumman Corp. broke ground on the 185,000-sf Commonwealth Enterprise Solutions Center in Chesterfield County, Va., in May of 2006. Housing 185,000 sf of offices, the building is sited on 28 acres. It will serve as Virginia's primary data center and will house the Virginia Information Technologies Agency, as well as containing a technology lab, a security operations center, a video broadcast studio, a training room, and a fitness center. Completion is slated for fall of 2007.
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) opened the $970-million National Security Sciences building in May of 2006.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) dedicated its new $182.6-million C.W. Bill Young Center for Biodefense and Emergine Infectious Diseases building in April 2006. Research in the 84,000-nsf building will focus on infectious diseases of global importance when it opens for occupancy later this year. Construction of the facility began in November 2003 and was completed in December 2005. It accommodates BSL-2 and BSL-3 labs and animal care areas, plus offices and conference rooms and a 1,250-car garage.
The new 930,000-sf United States Postal Service (USPS) Processing and Distribution Center in southwest Philadelphia has been completed. The architectural firm Kling provided architectural, engineering, and interior services that included programming, space planning, interior architectural detailing, telecommunications engineering, and lighting design. The facility, which is located on a 50-acre industrial site, will process all types of mail carried and delivered by the USPS--up to 8 million pieces of mail each night.
A new federally funded $25-million research laboratory will be located on the University of Kentucky's College of Agriculture campus in Lexington, Ky. Design of the new facility has been awarded to the Washington, D.C., office of RTKL Associates Inc. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service will manage the building, which will include a 64,000-sf lab and a 11,000-sf greenhouse. The greenhouse is scheduled to begin construction in early 2007.
Pacific Northwest National Laboratories (PNNL) has selected Flad & Associates of Madison, Wis., to design the new Physical Sciences Facility at the Lab's Richland, Wash., campus. The $224-million, 335,000-sf building will house 455 staff and 175,000 sf of lab space for subsurface science, materials science and technology, chemistry, shielded operations, radiation detection, ultra-trace analysis, and certification. The facility design will be LEED certifiable. Construction is expected to begin in early 2008.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is designing a new agricultural research facility in Kerrville, Texas to replace its existing livestock insect laboratory. The new $35-million facility will accommodate research on the control and eradication of cattle ticks and Lyme disease-causing pathogens. The larger site for the new facility will include pens and housing for cattle and deer.
