Higher Education

The University of Wisconsin-Madison opened the $205 million Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery in December of 2010. The 300,000-sf facility houses research offices, an atrium, and flexible dry, wet, and combination laboratories. Ground was broken on the interdisciplinary biomedical research building in May of 2008. Built with four stories above ground and one below, the project will support collaborative research in biotechnology, health science, nanotechnology, engineering, and stem cell research.

Central Oregon Community College will begin construction in early 2011 on the $18 million Health Career Building in Bend. The 47,000-sf facility will house classrooms and teaching labs for nursing, pharmacy technician, medical assisting, dental assisting, and licensed massage therapy. Occupancy is expected in spring of 2012. The general contractor for the project is HSW Builders of Bend.

The Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) will build the 80,000-sm Plastics Application Development Center at King Saud University in Riyadh. The project will house 150 scientists and over 300 advanced research instruments in 43,000 nsm of building space. The construction cost of the facility is estimated at SR475 million. The Plastics Application Development Center will promote the creation of new products for packaging, automotive materials, and compounding.

The University of Wisconsin broke ground on the $75.7 million Wisconsin Energy Institute in Madison in November of 2010. The 200,000-sf facility was designed by HOK and Potter Lawson with M.A. Mortenson as general contractor. The sustainably designed building will house labs, offices, high bay space, and conference rooms for clean energy research and development. A second phase of construction will provide classrooms, a demonstration lab, and offices.

Laurentian University is building the 36,000-sf Living With Lakes Centre in Sudbury, Ontario. Located on Lake Ramsey, the two-building facility will provide research labs and multimedia rooms for the Co-operative Freshwater Ecology Unit. LEED Platinum sustainable design certification will be sought for the $21 million project, which features a geothermal system designed to accommodate the climate of 2050. Completion is expected in May of 2011.

Newman University College has awarded Morgan Sindall an £8.5 million contract to construct a new library and entrance building in Birmingham. The three-story project will include a library, teaching space, offices, an atrium, and a café. Completion is expected in January of 2012.

The University of Alberta is building the $360.7-million Centennial Centre for Interdisciplinary Science (CCIS) in Edmonton. Construction began on the facility in November of 2008 with completion expected in 2011. The building will provide teaching labs, lecture halls, research labs, and faculty offices. The 53,000-sm project was designed by ONPA and is being built by PCL Construction Management. Consulting engineers included Read Jones Christoffersen, Stantec, and Hemisphere.

The University of Nottingham will partner with GlaxoSmithKline to build a green chemistry research facility on its Jubilee campus in the United Kingdom. The climate-neutral building will provide instructional space and laboratories for the development of safer chemical processes and products.

Brock University is building the $111 million Cairns Family Health and Bioscience Research Complex in St. Catherines, Ontario. The 176,000-sf project will house Canada's only CL3 biocontainment facility dedicated entirely to research. Designed by architectsAlliance in association with Payette, the complex is being built by EllisDon with Crossey Engineering as electrical and mechanical consultant, MHPM as project manager, and Halsall Associates as LEED consultant.

The University of Louisville is partnering with Nucleus, Kentucky's life science and innovation center, to develop a research building in Louisville. Designed by Arrasmith, Judd, Rapp, Chovan and built by Sullivan & Cozart, the facility will provide laboratory and office space for life science companies. Completion is expected in 2012.

The University of South Florida Polytechnic will begin construction in fall of 2011 on a new campus in Lakeland. Completion is expected in May of 2012. The architect and engineer for the project is Santiago Calatrava. The first 78,000-nsf building will support applied teaching and research with advanced laboratories and classrooms.

The renovation of Science Campus IV for Western Kentucky University has been awarded to Ross Tarrant Architects with RFD (Research Facilities Design) as laboratory design consultant. This will be RFD’s third project on campus in the last 10 years, having designed the laboratories for the Complex for Engineering & Biological Sciences and Snell Hall.

The first phase of the Biorenewables Complex was recently constructed at Iowa State University, further establishing ISU’s reputation as a leader in agricultural and engineering research. The 72,000-sf building for the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering has 24,000 sf of large, open/flexible research and teaching laboratory space for biochemistry and microbiology. The facility has been nominated for LEED Gold certification.

The University of Oklahoma is constructing the $128 million Oklahoma Cancer Center in Norman. The seven-story, 210,000-sf facility will support translational research with laboratories, clinical space, and patient education suites. The multidisciplinary Oklahoma Cancer Center will provide advanced diagnosis and treatment facilities in a patient-centered environment. Completion is expected in 2011. 

The University of Maine will begin construction in spring of 2011 on a biocontainment aquaculture research lab in Orono. FISHlab will provide advanced research laboratories for the study of pathogens and the development of vaccines for fish, frogs, lobsters, and sea urchins. The $600,000 facility will support collaboration with industry partners and is expected to reach completion in spring of 2012.