With its new Johnson Center for Science and Community Life, North Park University has embarked on a unique effort to combine STEM education with student life. The building contains all science classrooms—biology, chemistry, physics, math, engineering, psychology, and general science—plus all aspects of student engagement.
Brigham Young University-Idaho began constructing the 108,000-sf Science and Technology Building in Rexburg in March of 2015. Designed by CRSA of Salt Lake City, the three-story facility will provide classrooms, labs, and faculty offices for the Departments of Animal and Food Science, Applied Plant Science, Computer Information Technology, and Computer Science and Electrical Engineering. The general contractor for the project is Headwaters Construction. Completion is expected in fall of 2016.
The University of Illinois is planning to construct the Carle-Illinois College of Medicine in Urbana. Developed in partnership with Carle Health System, the project will be the nation’s first engineering-based medical school and will support a progressive pedagogy designed to foster innovation. This ground-breaking approach will integrate the University’s assets in engineering, technology, and supercomputing with Carle’s comprehensive health care resources.
The University of Arkansas will begin construction in mid-2015 on the $16.3 million Don Tyson Center for Agricultural Sciences in Fayetteville. Designed by WER Architects, the 60,000-sf facility will provide multidisciplinary laboratories and greenhouses for plant and animal science as well as water quality research. The project will include a 300-seat auditorium and administrative offices for the UA Agricultural Experiment Station. The general contractor for the facility is Nabholz Construction.
George Washington University opened the $275 million Science and Engineering Hall in March of 2015 in Washington, D.C. Located on the Foggy Bottom campus, the 500,000-sf interdisciplinary facility provides classrooms, integrated core facilities, and collaborative research spaces. Designed by Ballinger, the facility houses laboratories for biomedical engineering, nanofabrication, molecular genetics, imaging, and environmental engineering. The three-story high bay lab will support structural testing for large-scale construction components.
Johns Hopkins University’s 105,000-sf Undergraduate Teaching Labs (UTL) replace outdated, dispersed facilities with a single building that increases collaboration across scientific disciplines and offers a new model for research and education. The visually stunning UTL collocates all teaching laboratories for the departments of biology, chemistry, neuroscience, and biophysics, with a shared instrument core. The facility also contains dedicated “project labs” that provide a platform for undergraduate students to participate in actual research.
Cheyney University, located 25 miles west of Philadelphia and founded in 1837 as the Institute of Colored Youth (ICY), is the oldest of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities in America. The state-of-the-art Science Center, the first new academic building constructed on campus in 35 years, houses chemistry, biology, physics, and computer laboratories; seminar and lecture rooms; faculty offices; classrooms for the University’s Department of Natural and Applied Sciences; a planetarium; and an external greenhouse.
Magellan Aerospace opened the $3.3 million Advanced Satellite Integration Facility (ASIF) in March of 2015 in Winnipeg. Created in partnership with the University of Manitoba, the 6,000-sf project will support advanced satellite research and development, including construction and testing of systems and components. The ISO class 8 cleanroom facility can house up to three satellites in various stages of completion and includes high bay space to accommodate cranes.
The University of Wyoming broke ground in March of 2015 on the $53.5 million High Bay Research Facility in Laramie. Supporting the development of advanced oil and gas reservoir technologies, the 90,000-sf project will provide flexible, large-scale research space as well as offices, conference rooms, and conventional laboratories. The facility will house the Center of Innovation for Flow in Porous Media, the Improved Recovery Laboratory, the Geomechanical/Petrology Laboratory, and the Structures Research Laboratory.
San Diego Mesa College opened the $40.5 million Social and Behavioral Sciences Building in February of 2015. The three-story, 74,000-sf facility provides classrooms for programs in history, anthropology, psychology, sociology, and communication studies, as well as laboratory space. The project has attained LEED Silver sustainable design certification and features a passive ventilation system, lighting and temperature sensors, and low-flow water fixtures. The architect for the facility was Joseph Wong Design Associates.
Just one year after Wellesley College trustees approved a long-term campus renewal plan, the college had three projects in construction and six in design. In all, some $137 million worth of work, roughly 25 percent of the total plan, is currently underway, thanks to Wellesley’s bold approach: At once sweeping and granular, the process departed from traditional master planning by employing multiple architecture firms and incorporating up front many activities typically not seen months or even years into the design workstream.
Oregon State University will begin construction in March of 2015 on a $40 million facility for the School of Chemical, Biological and Ecological Engineering. The three-story, 58,000-sf Johnson Hall will provide interdisciplinary laboratories for collaborative research, faculty offices, classrooms, and a center for engineering student recruitment and retention. The project architect is SRG Partnership with Research Facilities Design (RFD) as laboratory programming and design consultant.
James Madison University is building a $65 million facility for the College of Health and Behavioral Studies (CHBS) in Harrisonburg, Va. Designed by EYP Architecture & Engineering, the six-story, 150,000-sf project will provide collaborative labs and classrooms for four of the university’s CHBS programs, including nursing. The building will include simulation training suites as well as administrative and faculty offices. Construction began on the facility in fall of 2014 and completion is expected in June of 2016.
The new three-story Bertelsmeyer Hall, home of the Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology, contains wet and dry research labs, classrooms, 19 faculty offices, lecture halls, and highly specialized labs and high bay spaces. Sixty percent of the building’s net square footage is dedicated to research space, and 40 percent to teaching spaces and offices.
The University of Texas broke ground in February of 2015 on a $20 million expansion of the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) in Austin. Designed by O’Connell Robertson, the 38,000-sf building will include instructional spaces, an auditorium, and student computer labs. The three-story facility is sited adjacent to TACC's existing building on the J.J. Pickle Research Campus and is expected to open in January of 2016.
