Higher Education

The University of North Carolina Hospital is using Building Information Modeling (BIM) to manage construction of its $156 million campus in Hillsborough. Designed by ZGF Architects, the project includes a 240,000-sf patient tower, a 14,000-sf central plant, and a three-story medical office building. Partnering with construction manager Skanska USA, UNC Hospital used BIM to plan the location of underground utilities, including integrating multiple building systems with existing rock formations.

Regents Hall Science Center, the first phase of Georgetown University’s Science Facilities Master Plan, integrates all physics, chemistry, and biology research labs on three connected floors. The new facility also houses the Institute for Soft Matter Synthesis and Metrology, funded in part through a $6.9 million grant from the National Institutes of Standards and Technology. The institute conducts research into materials that are neither liquids nor solids, such as liquid crystals, gels, colloids, polymers, and foams.

The University of Florida celebrated the opening of the $45 million Clinical and Translational Science Building in Gainesville in August of 2013. The collaborative 120,000-sf project houses the 40,000-sf UF Institute on Aging, the Clinical and Translational Research Institute, conference rooms, training facilities, research laboratories, and clinical space. LEED Platinum sustainable design certification will be sought for the facility.

Texas A&M University is building an 11,000-sf research aviary for the College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences. Located in College Station, the facility will include a biocontainment laboratory, a bird hospital, quarantine suites, two isolation rooms, classrooms, and administrative offices. Completion is expected in May of 2014.

Queensland Children's Hospital is building the $125 million Academic and Research Facility (A&RF) in Brisbane. Created in partnership with the University of Queensland, Queensland University of Technology, and the Translational Research Institute, the ten-story project will provide five floors of wet and dry labs for advanced biomedical research. The remaining levels will house pathology services, retail, and parking. While the facility will house more than 450 researchers, the design allows for expansion.

Hudson Valley Community College completed construction on its $40 million Science Center in August of 2013 in Troy, N.Y. The three-story, 100,000-sf facility provides two lecture halls, nine classrooms, faculty offices, a greenhouse, and 25 labs for biology, chemistry, and physics. General contractor U.W. Marx of Troy began construction on the center in October of 2011. Mosaic Associates of East Greenbush and Payette of Boston designed the building. LEED sustainable design certification will be sought for the project.

Suffolk University is planning to build a $49 million academic building in Boston. The 10-story, 110,000-sf facility will provide classrooms, teaching labs, faculty offices, an art gallery, and a cafeteria. The project team includes architect NBBJ and general contractor Suffolk Construction. Lean construction methodology will be employed in the delivery of the project, as well as Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) technologies. Occupancy is expected in July of 2015.

The University of Colorado at Colorado Springs (UCCS) is building the $18.5 million Lane Center for Academic Health Sciences. The 54,000-sf facility will provide instructional space for the College of Medicine as well as housing the Trauma Health and Hazards Center, the Lane Family Senior Health Center, the Gerontology Center, the Aging Center, and clinical space for the Beth-El College of Nursing and Health Sciences. Completion is expected in January of 2014. The project is part of the planned eight-building, 575,000-sf National Sports, Art and Wellness Village.

Auburn University is building the Wilford and Kate Bailey Small Animal Teaching Hospital in Auburn, Ala. The 208,000-sf facility features designated units for each type of hospital service, each including an exam room, a treatment room, and a student seminar room. The hospital will also house a sterile surgical suite, a critical care unit, diagnostic imaging, radiology, and clinical pathology. Construction began in spring of 2012 and completion is expected in fall of 2014.

The University of British Columbia has received LEED Gold certification from the Canada Green Building Council for the 172,000-sf Biological Sciences Complex renewal project in Vancouver. Designed by Aston Ostry Architects, the renovated facility provides advanced research space for the Departments of Botany and Zoology.

Loyola University Chicago will break ground in August of 2013 on the $137 million Center for Translational Research and Education. Created in partnership with CHE-Trinity, the five-story, 227,000-sf facility will provide open labs and support space for research in epidemiology, public health, bioinformatics, nursing, and health sciences. The center will accommodate 72 principal investigators and will include a 250-seat auditorium. Occupancy is expected in August of 2016.

The University of Minnesota will break ground in fall of 2013 on a $63 million microbiology research facility in Minneapolis. The 80,000-sf project will be the final building to be constructed in UM's $292 million Biomedical Discovery District and will house the Department of Microbiology and other departments and schools within the Academic Health Center. Designed by BWBR Architects, the facility will provide labs, offices, collaboration areas, pharmaceutical R&D suites, and biocontainment space for the study of infectious diseases.

AssetWorks, a leader in intelligent workplace management, has secured a contract with the University of Maine System to provide a comprehensive integrated workplace management system (IWMS) intended to replace a legacy environment of four disparate management tools and numerous standalone Microsoft® Excel and Access databases. AiM™ from AssetWorks is expected to manage a broad swath of functions spanning operations and maintenance, space management, utilities management, and capital planning.

Louisiana State University will begin construction in fall of 2014 on a $100 million expansion of the College of Engineering in Baton Rouge. The project includes building a new chemical engineering annex and the expansion and renovation of the existing 306,000-sf Taylor Hall. Completion is expected in 2017.

Midwestern University is building the $100 million College of Veterinary Medicine in Glendale, Ariz. The project includes a 50,000-sf large animal teaching facility, a 76,000-sf academic building, and a 100,000-sf small animal clinic. Ground was broken on the facility in early 2013 and occupancy is expected in fall of 2014.