Higher Education

The University of Bristol is building the $82 million Life Sciences building in the United Kingdom. The 145,313-sf facility will provide teaching and research labs, seminar rooms, and offices arranged around a central atrium. Supporting advanced biological sciences research, the building will include a five-story laboratory wing with microscopy and spectroscopy rooms, acoustic chambers, cleanrooms, and greenhouses. The project was designed by Sheppard Robson and is being built by VINCI Construction.

Lacking space for its health science programs but faced with a limited budget, the University of Georgia is repurposing a former Navy Supply Corps School as a new Health Sciences campus, salvaging a property slated for closure and creating a more modern, collaborative learning environment. Throughout the renovation process, the challenges have been managing end-user expectations, balancing practicality with functionality—including reusing some materials—and dealing with diverse properties in this compatible but not perfectly matched space.

An addition of 14,600 sf and renovation of 29,300 sf have transformed Connecticut College’s first campus building, New London Hall, built in 1914, into a modern science facility, housing the biology, botany, and computer science departments.

McMaster University has selected CS&P Architects to design its new 150,000-sf humanities and social sciences facility in Hamilton, Ontario. The five-story Wilson Hall will provide active learning classrooms, formal and informal learning environments, and a variety of study areas. The facility will also include a 350-seat concert hall, a 150-seat black box theater, and a 400-seat tiered lecture hall.

The University of Miami is building the 37,000-sf Neuroscience and Health Annex in Coral Gables, Fla. The interdisciplinary facility will enable scientists from the departments of biology and psychology to collaborate with researchers from the Miller School of Medicine. The three-story project is partially funded by $14.8 million in federal stimulus funding and will provide research labs, offices, a vivarium, and a human functional magnetic resonance imaging lab (HFMRI). LEED Silver sustainable design certification will be sought for the facility.

Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s Medical Research Building IV provides a highly flexible environment for innovative research: Labs are arranged in 22-ft modules with alcoves for specialty uses such as fume hoods and tissue culture rooms. Ceiling-mounted service connections and mobile storage units allow easy reconfiguration of lab benches. The project was the first U.S. application of Venturi-Wedge induction, a highly efficient system to maintain the precise temperatures required in laboratories. This single measure saved approximately $2,400,000 in Phase 1 construction costs.

The Health Sciences Learning Center at the University of Wisconsin supports the evolving needs of education, research, and clinical practice in a unified facility for the Medical, Nursing, and Pharmacy schools.

The heart of the Learning Center is the Ebling Library, which is part of a statewide outreach program to serve both advanced research and public inquiry. The Library administers many other resources in the Center, including seminar, lecture, and distance learning facilities; digital labs, and clinical suites. The Center also provides a campus lounge and bookstore.

Columbia University’s Northwest Corner Building accomplishes several goals the University identified over time: Invest in its natural sciences programs, promote collaboration opportunities within a new building, provide links to other campus buildings, and create campus-wide amenities that would promote student interaction.

Fitchburg State University is building a $57.3 million, 57,000-sf addition to the Condike Science Building in Fitchburg, Mass. The expansion will provide biology and chemistry teaching and research laboratories, classrooms, and support functions. The project was designed by CBT Architects and is being built by BOND of Everett, Mass. The laboratory design consultant was Research Facilities Design (RFD).

The recently opened Translational Research Institute (TRI) in Brisbane, Australia, combines four major research institutes into a single medical and biopharmaceutical research facility where new treatments can be developed, manufactured, and clinically tested in one location, greatly shortening the time between discovery and application.

The 282,000-sf, five-story Energy Environment Experiential Learning (EEEL) building at the University of Calgary provides instructional space for expanded programs in energy and environment; new laboratories for biology, chemistry, and civil, mechanical, and chemical engineering; and space for faculty and staff. With its distinctive glass and aluminum exterior, EEEL creates an impressive front door to the community as the first major University building at the north campus entrance.

Jacksonville University began construction on the $8 million College of Health Sciences in July of 2013. Designed by Dasher Hurst Architects, the 30,000-sf facility will provide flexible classrooms for engaged learning to support progressive medical education pedagogies. LEED Silver sustainable design certification will be sought for the project. Completion is expected in July of 2014.

The State University of New York Institute of Technology (SUNYIT) broke ground on the $125 million Computer Chip Commercialization Center in June of 2013. The three-story, 200,000-sf facility will provide research laboratories, classrooms, offices, and a 50,000-sf nanotechnology cleanroom. Located in Marcy, N.Y., the facility is created in partnership with the University at Albany College of Nanoscale Science & Engineering (CNSE) and will foster collaborative research and development with industry partners.

The Education Greenhouse, a new plant research facility for the College of Natural Sciences at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, includes a new 10,000-sf research greenhouse; a new 5,500-sf laboratory for the Plant, Soil, and Insect Sciences Department (PSIS); and a renovated 4,500-sf teaching greenhouse.

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee broke ground on the $80 million Kenwood Interdisciplinary Research Center in June of 2013. The 92,900-asf (152,200-gsf) facility will provide teaching, research, and office space for the Department of Physics and labs for the School of Public Health. The seven-story building will include one level below grade, one mechanical floor, and a penthouse. Completion is expected in 2015.