Higher Education

Novartis and the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine celebrated the opening of the $27 million Center for Advanced Cellular Therapeutics in February of 2016 in Philadelphia. Accommodating the production of personalized cancer treatments using chimeric antigen receptor technology, the 30,000-sf facility features 23,610 sf of laboratory and cell therapy manufacturing space as well as a 6,300-sf cleanroom.

Bluffton University is planning to build the $14.5 million Austin E. Knowlton Science Center in Bluffton, Ohio. Housing the division of Natural and Applied Sciences, the 32,500-sf facility will provide three classrooms and 10 sustainably designed learning labs for programs in biology, chemistry, and dietetics. The center will support a progressive pedagogy with maximum internal transparency, enabling lab activities to be visible to students, staff, and visitors. Completion is expected in fall 2019.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison is planning to construct the $45.7 million Meat Science and Muscle Biology Lab. The two-story, 67,540-sf project will provide a biosafety laboratory, a meat laboratory, a teaching facility, and faculty offices. An existing structure currently located on the site, the Seed Building, will be demolished to allow the Meat Science and Muscle Biology Lab to be built. Construction will begin in July of 2017 with occupancy expected in spring of 2018.

The UWM Innovation Accelerator, funded in part by a federal economic development grant as the first building in a planned Innovation Park, is a public-private partnership that collocates business, industry, and academic research to launch intellectual property. The two-story building is sited to leverage the technology available in nearby institutions, such as the Milwaukee County Medical Complex, Children’s Hospital, and the Medical College of Wisconsin, and to attract researchers, faculty, students, industry leaders, entrepreneurs, and investors.

Beijing Construction Engineering Group and the University of Huddersfield in the United Kingdom have signed a five-year agreement to collaboratively develop Building Information Modelling (BIM) technologies. The partnership will leverage BCEG's expertise in lean construction practices with the University of Huddersfield's new degree program in Design Integration and Building Information Modeling. The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) will also create employment opportunities at BCEG for both undergraduate and postgraduate students.

The 12-story McGlothlin Medical Education Center at Virginia Commonwealth University, completed in 2013, facilitates a new model of collaborative, team-based learning. The C3 curriculum—centered on the needs of the learner, clinically driven, and using competencies as outcomes—reflects a two-year process of reinventing the first and second years of medical school (M1-M2) involving the dean, faculty, executive-level curriculum staff, and students.

Auburn University began construction in February of 2016 on two new health science facilities in Auburn, Ala. Designed to support advanced instruction in team-based healthcare, the $29 million School of Nursing will feature simulation labs, active learning classrooms, and spacious interdisciplinary teaching labs. The three-story, 89,000-sf building will also provide research space, faculty offices, conference rooms, a tiered auditorium, and a student lounge.

The University of Cambridge is planning to build a $125 million biomedical research facility in the United Kingdom. The six-story, 190,000-sf Project Capella will house the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, the Milner Therapeutics Institute, the Cambridge Institute of Therapeutic Immunology & Infectious Disease, and the Cambridge Centre for Haematopoiesis and Haematological Malignancies. Lean construction methodology will be implemented in the delivery of the facility, which is slated for completion in the second quarter of 2018.

Indiana University Bloomington broke ground in January of 2016 on the $12 million Paul H. O'Neill Graduate Center at the School of Public and Environmental Affairs. Designed by BSA LifeStructures, the three-story, 28,000-sf facility will support graduate programs in public affairs, environmental management, and environmental science. The project will feature technology-rich learning and meeting spaces, three student commons areas, and faculty offices. Completion is expected in early 2017.

The new Weisberg Family Applied Engineering Complex, adjacent to the existing Robert C. Byrd Biotechnology Center, houses six academic and research programs: College of Information Technology, Mechanical & Electrical Engineering, Mathematics & Computational Science, Computer Modeling & Digital Imaging, Transportation Research Corporation, and Marshall University Research Corporation (MURC).

Barnard College is planning to build the $150 million Teaching and Learning Center in New York. Replacing Lehman Hall, the 132,000-sf facility will feature a computational science center and a digital commons with five teaching labs and flexible learning spaces. The project will also house the Athena Center for Leadership Studies, the Barnard Center for Research on Women, departmental offices, a café, and a library. The design architect for the facility is Skidmore, Owings and Merrill. Completion is expected in August of 2018.

The University of Toronto opened the $52.7 million Environmental Science and Chemistry Building in January of 2016. Located on the Scarborough campus in Toronto, the 110,000-sf facility was designed by Diamond Schmitt Architects and delivered with design-build construction partner EllisDon. Providing flexible teaching and research space for the study of climate change and environmental science, the five-story collaborative building houses classrooms, laboratories, and academic offices connected by a skylit forum and crossroads.

VU University Medical Center will begin construction in March of 2016 on the 172,222-sf VUmc Imaging Center Amsterdam. Providing flexible laboratories for biomedical research, the six-story facility will promote interaction and collaboration by collocating the hospital's radiology and nuclear medicine departments in a single location. The sustainably designed project will be constructed to attain a BREEAM Very Good rating by a joint venture of De Beeldbouwers VOF and Ballast Nedam.

Assumption College is planning to construct a $20 million academic facility in Worcester, Mass. The three-story, 60,000-sf building will provide classrooms, offices, a function hall, and an auditorium. The civil design firm for the project is Quinn Engineering.

Research confirms that active and engaging university classrooms improve learning outcomes, but what features produce the most positive—and cost-effective—results? Surprisingly, perhaps, advanced technology is not nearly as high on the list of success factors as whiteboards, flexible furniture, and other space-related amenities.