Higher Education

Chico State University broke ground in February of 2023 on a $98 million facility for the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences in Chico, Calif. Designed by AC Martin, the 94,000-sf building will provide 22 classrooms, five research labs, conference and breakout rooms, faculty offices, and a large tiered lecture hall. Accommodating nine academic departments, the collaborative structure will feature integrated technologies to support a variety of learning modalities.

The $78 million, 108,000-sf Ferland Engineering Education and Design Center opened to students on Aug. 24, 2022, marking the University of Maine’s first step in a $600 million master facilities plan that aims to renovate or replace all engineering and computing buildings on the school’s main campus in Orono. The update of these facilities also aligns with the proposed Maine College of Engineering, Computing, and Information Science (MCECIS), a statewide initiative to equip Maine’s technical workforce with new teaching methods, curricula, and capital investments in infrastructure over the next 10 years, all aimed at addressing the current shortage of engineering and computing graduates. 

The Student Success District is a ground-breaking addition to the University of Arizona’s urban fabric. The design strengthens connections between new and existing structures, activates underutilized spaces, and prioritizes the student experience. The complex project revitalizes the Main Library and the Bear Down Gymnasium, reorients the entry to the Albert B. Weaver Science-Engineering Library, and merges the buildings with a new 55,000-sf Center for Academic Success.

Gattuso Development Partners and Vigilant Holdings broke ground in February of 2023 on a $450 million life sciences center in Philadelphia. Located in the University City district on the campus of Drexel University, the 11-story, 519,647-rsf building will provide wet and dry research labs for the creation of novel therapeutics and medical technologies. Drexel will occupy 60,000 sf in the collaborative structure to enable the growth of core R&D functions and selected academic programs.

The University of California, Berkeley is constructing the Gateway, a visionary new home for the Division of Computing, Data Science, and Society. Designed by Weiss/Manfredi and Gensler, the $650 million building will strategically collocate open lab and office neighborhoods in a continuous flow to promote cross-fertilization of ideas and insights.

The University of Connecticut opened the $240 million Science One building in January of 2023. Housing the Institute of Materials Science and Engineering, the 198,000-sf facility provides research, teaching, and core laboratories arranged in a modular configuration for optimal flexibility and adaptability. The interdisciplinary structure also offers a 240-seat active learning venue, a cleanroom, faculty and administrative offices, and a variety of settings for informal interaction and study.

Oregon State University is planning to construct the $213 million Jen-Hsun and Lori Huang Collaborative Innovation Complex in Corvallis. Featuring a state-of-the-art NVIDIA supercomputer, the 145,000-sf facility will accommodate team-based research programs in semiconductors, materials science, artificial intelligence, and robotics. These next-generation technologies will provide new solutions to global challenges in climate science, oceanography, and water resources.

Many college graduates remember, with varying degrees of fondness, the spartan cinder-block dorms of their youth. Today, when most universities are competing for students, the pressure is on to add amenities like e-sports rooms, private bathrooms, and walk-in closets. How can an institution stay competitive while still keeping costs down? The secrets include thorough planning and canny management of contingency.

Missouri University of Science and Technology will begin construction in late summer of 2023 on a $53.4 million manufacturing innovation hub in Rolla. Designed by Perkins&Will and Mackey Mitchell Architects, the Missouri Protoplex will be the headquarters of a statewide ecosystem where experts, innovators, business owners, and educators develop new production methods and technologies.

Colorado State University opened the 122,000-sf Hydro building in Denver in January of 2023. Located on the Spur campus, this dynamic nexus of water research and innovation will catalyze the discovery of new solutions to pressing environmental challenges. Hord Coplan Macht and SmithGroup designed the interdisciplinary structure, which houses the Western Water Policy Institute, the Salazar Center for North American Conservation, and a 1,900-sf testing lab for Denver Water.

The University of British Columbia began construction in December of 2022 on the CAD$180 million Gateway Building in Vancouver. Designed by Perkins&Will and Schmidt Hammer Lassen, the 267,000-sf project will offer sophisticated facilities for interprofessional education including wet and dry labs, high-fidelity simulation suites, flexible classrooms, and four large lecture halls.

Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in Pittsburgh is working in partnership with San Francisco-based Emerald Cloud Lab on a new $40 million facility that will house more than 200 discrete life science and chemistry research instruments, but very few human researchers, teachers, or students. Instead, the instruments and artificial intelligence tools within the new CMU Cloud Lab can be accessed remotely via the cloud from anywhere in the world to conduct experiments at any time of the day or night. The new 16,000-sf Cloud Lab will be housed in a CMU-owned building in Pittsburgh’s Bakery Square, 10 minutes from the main campus. Construction is scheduled to conclude by May 2023 and to be fully operational by the fall 2023 semester.  

The University of Texas at San Antonio opened the $91.8 million San Pedro I building in January of 2023. Designed by Jacobs and Overland Partners, the six-story, 167,000-sf structure provides the School of Data Science with 84,000 sf of classrooms, labs, and offices for the departments of computer science, computer engineering, information systems and cybersecurity, and statistics and data sciences.

The University of Michigan has transformed the way science is conducted and communicated by integrating the Museum of Natural History into its uniquely designed $261 million Biological Sciences Building (BSB). The 312,000-sf building opened for classes in 2018, and the museum opened a year later, facilitating connections between university researchers and the community. More than 200,000 members of the public visited the museum within the first year, underscoring the university’s belief that science is a social, not merely transactional, interaction.

Galveston College is constructing the $34 million Health Sciences Education Center to provide leading-edge facilities for its nursing and allied health programs. Designed by PBK Architects, the 64,000-sf building will include sophisticated classrooms, interactive lecture halls, teaching labs, simulation suites, faculty offices, and study spaces.