Higher Education

At the inception of a new interdisciplinary science building, bricks-and-mortar considerations must take a back seat to a big-picture view of issues related to organization, funding, governance, and the long-range vision of the institution. The resolution of these issues early on leads to projects that are more successful—not necessarily in terms of cost savings, but in the essential criterion of aligning a new facility with specific academic strengths and the broader institutional mission.

Howard University opened the $70 million Interdisciplinary Research Building in Washington in April of 2016.  Designed by HDR in association with Lance Bailey and Associates, the collaborative 81,670-sf facility provides laboratories, offices, conference rooms, and a Class 10 cleanroom. General contractor Turner Construction broke ground on the project in spring of 2013.

Western Kentucky University broke ground in April of 2016 on the $48 million Ogden College Hall in Bowling Green. Designed by Ross Tarrant Architects with Research Facilities Design (RFD) as laboratory design consultant, the 83,000-sf facility will provide a 300-seat auditorium, administrative offices for the College of Science and Engineering, and 36 laboratories for chemistry, biology, and physics.

SUNY Buffalo State has completed the second phase of a three-phase project that will transform its science education facilities by consolidating multiple science departments into a single facility, establishing a hub for the STEM curriculum. Originally built in 1962, the 171,000-sf Science Building No. 15 undertook a $107 million expansion project to create a science complex that is one of the few interdisciplinary facilities in the SUNY system.

Appalachian State University will break ground in July of 2016 on a $70 million facility for the Beaver College of Health Sciences in Boone, N.C. Designed by LS3P, the 203,000-sf project will consolidate teaching and research space currently dispersed in seven buildings across campus. The facility will be located adjacent to the Watauga Medical Center on land donated by Appalachian Regional Healthcare System. The construction manager at risk for the project is Rodgers Builders.

Coventry University is constructing the $52 million Science and Health Building in the United Kingdom. The five-story multidisciplinary facility will provide classrooms, simulation training suites, science labs, and core research space for the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences. The 121,200-gsf (75,500-nsf) project is being built by BAM Construction. Completion is expected by fall of 2017.

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley broke ground in March of 2016 on the $54 million Academic Building in Brownsville. Comprised of two three-story structures, the 102,551-sf complex will provide four chemistry labs, two environmental science labs, faculty offices, classrooms, and space for the School of Music. The project team includes Bartlett Cocke General Contractors and Garrett Mechanical.

Francis Marion University is building the Luther F. Carter Center for Health Sciences in Florence, S.C. The three-story, 51,000-sf complex will provide classrooms, faculty offices, laboratories, and simulation suites. The center will also house an auditorium, study areas, and space for clinical trials. The construction cost of the facility is $15.5 million. Completion is expected by July of 2016.

The University of Kansas has completed the second phase of a major expansion of its engineering facilities to accommodate a 50 percent increase in the number of engineering graduates. The Learned Hall Engineering Expansion Phase 2 (LEEP 2) completes the new engineering complex by connecting two existing buildings: Learned Hall, built in 1963, and the Measurement, Materials and Sustainable Environment Center (M2SEC), completed in 2012.

The “Super Lab,” opened in 2015 at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), in Sydney, Australia, can host more than 200 students in up to five different lab classes simultaneously. With several sessions held each day, the Super Lab sees 2,500 to 3,000 student entries per week, a figure that, for a single lab space, is “rather horrifying to academics at first face value,” says Bill Booth, laboratory operations manager at UTS.

The University of Mississippi is constructing the $63 million School of Medicine in Jacksonville. Located at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, the five-story, 151,569-sf facility will feature flexible, technology-rich classrooms designed for ease of conversion between lecture-style instruction and team-based learning sessions. The project will also include tiered auditoriums, a variety of study areas, and a dedicated floor for simulation laboratories. Ground was broken on the project in early 2013 and completion is expected in spring of 2017.

The University of Utah broke ground in late March of 2016 on the $55 million Gary & Ann Crocker Science Center in Salt Lake City. Providing interdisciplinary science labs, lecture halls, classrooms, an atrium, and a business incubator, the four-story facility will house the Center for Cell and Genome Science and the Center for Science and Math Education. The 123,500-sf project includes renovation of the existing 71,000-sf George Thomas building and construction of a 52,500-sf addition.

South Dakota State University is building two new large animal research facilities. Construction began in October of 2014 on the $6 million Swine Education and Research Facility, which will include a classroom, boar and sow housing, research space, and a biosecure glass observation area. The $6 million Cow-Calf Education and Research Facility, slated for completion in spring of 2016, will provide offices, laboratory space, conference rooms, livestock evaluation pens, a monoslope research building, and replicated pastures.

Su Yat-sen University broke ground in March of 2016 on a 323,000-sf gravitational wave research facility in Zhuhai, China. The project will feature a 108,000-sf cave laboratory built to attain stringent vibration requirements and a 5,400-sf observation station. The lab is part of the $2.3 billion Tianqin research project that will be developed in four phases over the next two decades. Gravitational wave data will eventually be collected by three high-orbit satellites and relayed to the facility for analysis.

Holyoke Community College’s Center for Health Education is a state-of-the-art facility providing teaching spaces for nursing and radiologic technology students pursuing a practical nursing certificate, an associate degree in nursing, or an associate degree in science, with a focus on radiologic technology for use in the medical imaging professions. The Center also supports the Foundations of Health program by providing modern low-fidelity (lo-fi) labs within the nursing program spaces.