Higher Education

The University of North Texas has partnered with Ramtech Building Systems on a modular construction project in Denton. The three-building installation provides 38,000 sf of instructional space, conference rooms, and faculty and administrative offices. Designed to showcase the speed and versatility of moveable modular construction, the $3.5 million project has enabled the relocation of key programs as part of the new $130 million University Union project.

University Hospital of Northern B.C. broke ground in December of 2013 on the Northern Health Learning and Development Centre in Prince George. Developed in partnership with the Province of British Columbia, the University of Northern British Columbia, and the University of British Columbia, the $10 million project will provide a clinical simulation center, seminar rooms, a library, and video conferencing suites for advanced medical instruction and training.

The University of Texas at Tyler will begin construction in spring of 2014 on the Ben and Maytee Fisch College of Pharmacy. The design team for the 60,000-sf facility includes SmithGroup JJR and Eubanks Harris Roberts Craig Architects. The project is funded in part by a $22 million donation. The University of Texas at Tyler is also planning to begin construction in 2014 on a $4 million addition to the Fine and Performing Arts Center as well as a new alumni house.

The University of North Carolina Wilmington dedicated the $30 million Marine Biotechnology Center of North Carolina (MARBIONC) in November of 2013. The 69,000-sf facility provides laboratories, offices, and conference rooms to support marine biotechnology research and development. Focus areas will include drug discovery based on compounds from marine organisms; detection technologies for both human-origin marine pollutants and biotoxins from microorganisms; algae farming for biofuels, and mariculture (marine aquaculture).

A comprehensive renovation of Harvard University’s 105,000-sf Sherman Fairchild Building for the Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Department has allowed researchers to work more efficiently and collaboratively than ever before, with shared fume hoods and environmental, imaging, and equipment rooms. High-use support spaces, such as tissue culture rooms, were moved to the building exterior to take advantage of natural light, while the other shared spaces were moved to the interior.

Northeastern University will break ground in January of 2014 on a $225 million science and engineering research facility in Boston. The six-story, 220,000-sf building will provide open wet and dry labs, classrooms, faculty offices, a 280-seat auditorium, and an atrium. Designed by Payette, the interdisciplinary facility will house advanced instrumentation for shared use by the colleges of science, engineering, health sciences, and computer and information science. LEED sustainable design certification will be sought for the project.

Washington State University dedicated the $78.6 million Pharmaceutical & Biomedical Sciences Building in December of 2013. Designed by NBBJ to foster interaction and collaboration, the 125,000-gsf facility provides open research and teaching labs, flexible classrooms, a 150-seat auditorium, and administrative and faculty offices. Located on the Riverpoint campus in Spokane, the building houses the College of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences and represents the first phase of a planned research complex.

The University of Cambridge is planning to build a new chemical engineering and biotechnology building in the United Kingdom. The $67 million facility will provide teaching and research space for the recently merged Department of Chemical Engineering and the Institute of Biotechnology. The project team includes architect BDP, general contractor Morgan Sindall, and mechanical and electrical contractor Shepherd Engineering Services. Completion is expected in June of 2015.

The University of Sussex has initiated a $246 million service delivery contract with Interserve. Over the ten-year partnership, Interserve will provide services including building management, capital projects development, grounds maintenance, cleaning, postal services, parking, security, waste management, and infrastructure improvements. Interserve will aim to deliver best-practice processes to improve operational efficiency. The University of Sussex has five campuses in the United Kingdom, three of which are in Brighton.

The new Health and Life Sciences Center at Elgin Community College, with more than 137,000 sf of classroom and lab spaces on three floors, brings together all 12 health professions programs in one building serving 1,800 students. The Center offers real-world, hands-on, experiential learning opportunities for students in nursing; radiology; dental assistance; histology; surg-tech; and massage, occupational, and physical therapies, as well as classrooms for core academic coursework.

Auburn University dedicated the renovated Biological Engineering Research Laboratory (BERL) in November of 2013 in Auburn, Ala. The $6 million project provides AU's Department of Agriculture with new environmental rooms and technology-rich research labs for for chemical analysis, biomaterials characterization, and food engineering. Supported by funding from the National Science Foundation and the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station, the renovation included the installation of upgraded infrastructure and building systems in the 22,800-sf facility.

Clemson University opened the SCE&G Energy Innovation Center in North Charleston in November of 2013. The facility is located on the Restoration Institute campus and will provide advanced wind turbine drivetrain testing capabilities. Developed in collaboration with industry partners including S.C. Electric & Gas Company, General Electric, Duke Energy, and Savannah River National Lab, the building houses the Duke Energy eGRID (Electrical Grid Research Innovation and Development) center which can simulate energy grid performance for any country in the world.

Dalhousie University will begin building a $35 million collaborative health education building in Halifax in March of 2014. The five-story, 106,000-sf facility will provide active-learning classrooms, a clinical skills simulation suite, seminar rooms, and a learning commons. The project team includes Barrie & Langille Architects of Halifax, Moriyama & Teshima Architects of Toronto, and MHPM Project Managers. The flexible facility was designed to accommodate multiple uses and encourage interaction and collaboration.

The Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) has completed Phase I of a renovation and expansion project aimed at increasing the size of its entering medical doctor class by 78 percent, from 56 students in 2009 to 100 by 2016. Phase I involved four relatively small projects—all renovations of existing space—that will have a major programmatic impact: the addition of a state-of-the-art animal surgery suite, a graduate teaching laboratory, a renovated library, and a renovated research laboratory that consolidates MSM’s four core biomedical research areas.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) opened the $25 million Science and Engineering Laboratory Building in fall of 2013. Designed by BSA LifeStructures in conjunction with Blackburn Architects, the collaborative 45,000-sf facility houses multidisciplinary research labs, classrooms for the School of Science and the School of Engineering and Technology, meeting rooms, and administrative space.