Higher Education

An increase in funding streams for interdisciplinary research coupled with major advances in computational research are driving bioengineering and integrated life sciences and engineering program growth. “Increasingly, universities are engaging in interdisciplinary research—that’s where the exciting problems are, and that’s what funding agencies are funding,” says Dr. Stephen Director, provost emeritus of Northeastern University in Boston. “We have found that our existing facilities don’t easily support that.”

UC San Diego Health opened the $943 million Jacobs Medical Center in November of 2016 in La Jolla. Designed by Cannon Design, the 10-story, 509,500-sf facility includes the Rady Pavilion for Women & Infants, the Foster Pavilion for Cancer Care, and the Vassiliadis Family Pavilion for Advanced Surgery.

The University of Missouri–St. Louis opened the $35 million Science Learning Building in November of 2016. Designed by Christner, the four-story, 75,000-sf facility features 18 technology-rich teaching labs, seven study areas, a café, and a solarium town center connecting to the adjacent science complex. General contractor K&S Associates broke ground on the sustainably designed project in October of 2013.

Texas A&M University is planning to begin construction in January of 2017 on the $86 million Global Health Research Complex in College Station. The 102,000-sf biocontainment facility will provide advanced laboratories for the study of infectious agents and diseases in plants, animals, and humans. Supporting collaboration within the A&M System, the project will collocate biomedical, veterinary, engineering, and environmental science research in a single complex to create innovative strategies for diagnosis, treatment, and prevention.

Grand Valley State University will begin construction in December of 2016 on a $37.5 million facility for the College of Health Professions and the College of Nursing. Located in Grand Rapids, Mich., the five-story, 84,000-sf Finkelstein Hall will provide 15 teaching labs, four classrooms, two departmental suites, a computer lab, and 90 faculty and staff offices. The architect for the project is Fishbeck, Thompson, Carr & Huber and the construction manager is Rockford Construction. Completion is expected in May of 2018.

The University of Nottingham broke ground on the 97,000-sf Advanced Manufacturing Building in November of 2016 in the United Kingdom. G.F. Tomlinson was awarded the £16 million construction contract for the project, which will be built on a former brownfield site on the Jubilee Campus. Designed by Bond Bryan, the facility will provide the Faculty of Engineering with research labs and offices, teaching spaces, workshops, and an area for large-scale aerospace demonstrator components.

Doctors Hospital at Renaissance is partnering with the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley to create a $34 million medical research facility in McAllen. The 83,000-sf building will be developed as a public-private partnership and will be leased back to the University at an annual cost of $2.5 million. The project will provide 16 research labs, core facilities, and clinical space for the study of diseases affecting the Rio Grande Valley.

The National University of Singapore broke ground on the Net-Zero Energy Building in November of 2016. Designed by Multiply Architects and Serie Architects, the six-story, 91,644-gsf facility will provide research labs, design studios, workshops, a test-bedding façade, and collaborative learning spaces. The building will be constructed as a living laboratory for sustainable design and will feature hybrid cooling technologies, 1,200 photovoltaic panels, and natural lighting and ventilation.

Texas Tech University is initiating an $86 million expansion of its Health Sciences Center in Lubbock. Designed by Hill International, the 183,000-sf project includes the 56,000-sf Education, Research & Technology Building and the 17,000-sf West Expansion Building. A third facility adjoining an existing library will create an additional 110,000 sf of teaching and research space, and will feature a 240-seat flipped classroom and a sophisticated gross anatomy lab.

UMass Medical School opened the $20 million Massachusetts Facility for High-Resolution Cryo-Electron Microscopy in October of 2016 in Worcester. Featuring a 2,000-sf microscopy suite housing two cryo-EM systems, the $5 million Titan Krios and the $4 million Talos-Arctica, the 4,100-sf laboratory will provide academic investigators and industry partners with advanced imaging capabilities for biomedical and pharmaceutical research.

The University of North Carolina Wilmington will begin construction in January of 2018 on the $66 million Allied Health Building. Designed by EYP, the 170,000-sf facility will house the College of Health and Human Services, providing classrooms and labs for programs in nursing, health science, clinical research, and social work. The construction manager is W.M. Jordan. The project will be delivered in phases with completion expected by early 2020.

The University of North Texas broke ground in October of 2016 on the Interdisciplinary Research and Education Building in Fort Worth. Supported by $80 million in state funding, the 173,000-sf facility will accommodate a progressive, team-based pedagogy for health sciences and interprofessional education. Designed by Treanor Architects, the building will house the College of Pharmacy, the North Texas Eye Research Institute, and the Institute for Molecular and Therapeutic Development.

Michigan State University opened the $70 million Bio Engineering Facility in East Lansing in October of 2016. Supporting interdisciplinary biomedical research, the 130,000-sf building provides modular open labs and offices for faculty from the colleges of Engineering, Human Medicine, and Natural Science. Promoting collaboration with many other departments, including veterinary medicine, nursing, and osteopathy, the sustainably designed project is physically connected to both the Clinical Center and Life Sciences buildings to promote the sharing of core resources.

The State University of New York (SUNY) Upstate Medical University opened the final phase of its Biotech Accelerator in September of 2016. Located in Syracuse, N.Y., the 60,000-sf facility was designed by The S/L/A/M Collaborative and constructed by Murnane Building Contractors. Providing wet labs, dry labs, and core research space with shared equipment, the project houses the Medical Innovation and Novel Discovery (MIND) Center and the Molecular Pathology Next Generation Sequencing Lab.

The University of Texas at Arlington broke ground in October of 2016 on the $125 million Science and Engineering Innovation and Research Building. Designed by Page and ZGF Architects to support team-based learning and discovery, the six-story, 220,000-sf facility will provide two floors of instructional space, with research activities occupying four floors and a basement level.