Higher Education

North Carolina State University opened the Man-in-Simulant Test (MIST) laboratory in Raleigh in mid-2008. Located in NC State's College of Textiles, the facility will allow researchers to evaluate the capabilities of protective garments against non-toxic vapors that resemble chemical and biological agents. The laboratory is the only one of its kind located at a university in the United States and was funded by a two-year, $2 million grant from the Department of Defense.

Harvard Medical School Dubai Center (HMSDC) will open the Medical Simulation Center in Dubai in the first quarter of 2009. The 20,461-sf facility will provide a simulation environment for healthcare training in a facility housing an auditorium, teaching spaces, and a library. Including simulation operating rooms, intensive care units, emergency rooms, and ward rooms, the center will feature 6,000-sf for emergency medicine training.

The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor is engaged in a $102-million expansion of its law school. The project consists of the construction of a new 100,000-sf academic building and the expansion and renovation of existing facilities. Completion is expected in 2012. Additionally, the University will construct a 47,000-sf data center to support its health system operations. The $50.9 million facility is slated for completion in 2010. Both projects broke ground in mid-2008.

Marquette University is planning to construct the $100 million Discovery Learning Complex in Milwaukee. Housing the College of Engineering, the facility will be structured around 15 pods housing conjoined classrooms, faculty offices, and research labs in each grouping. The project will feature multidisciplinary labs for materials and structural testing, complex systems, mechatronics, visualization, neuromechanics, and biomedical imaging. A specialized energy workshop lab will focus on development of alternative energy resources.

Loyola University’s Richard J. Klarchek Information Commons was designed to achieve a 50 percent reduction in energy usage as compared to buildings utilizing conventional HVAC systems. The building became functional in mid-January 2008 and has quickly proven itself to be a green success. Energy usage data collected so far indicates that the LEED Silver building is saving more than the projected 50 percent. Hill Mechanical Group of Franklin Park, Ill., installed the HVAC system for the four-story, 70,000-sf facility.

The University of Cincinnati opened the Center for Academic Research Excellence (CARE) on its medical campus in Coryville, Ohio, in August of 2008. The $107.3 million facility features 70,000-sf of health science research laboratories and 17,000-sf of teaching labs. Designed by Studios Architecture of San Francisco and Harley Ellis of Cincinnati, the building is connected by a nine-story glass atrium to the newly renovated Medical Sciences Building (MSB).

Dartmouth University is constructing a $93-million life sciences building on its Hanover, N.H., campus. Named the Class of 1978 Life Sciences Center, the 174,000-sf sustainably designed facility broke ground in late fall of 2007 and is slated for completion in March of 2010. The complex will house 30 research labs, six teaching labs, three lecture halls, and two classrooms. Sustainable design features of the project include extensive use of natural light, storm water recycling, and a green roof over the auditorium.

Washington State University (WSU) is planning a $57 million Agricultural Research Service research facility in Pullman. The project will house laboratories for the study of plant genetics, crop and animal diseases, and soil management. The project is part of a seven-building Sciences/Biotechnology complex that includes the $62-million Biotechnology/Life Sciences Facility and the $35 million School for Global Animal Health.

Rockefeller University is constructing the $400 million Collaborative Research Center in New York, N.Y. Designed by Mitchell/Giurgola, the facility includes a large glass structure connecting two renovated biological research laboratories. The project broke ground in September of 2007 with completion slated for 2012. The general contractor is Turner Construction Company.

Northern Illinois University broke ground on the $160 million Proton Treatment and Research Center in West Chicago in June of 2008. Sited in the DuPage National Technology Park, the 115,000-sf cancer treatment facility will open in February of 2010. Housing research, treatment, and medical offices, the nonprofit center will treat up to 1,500 patients annually. The project team includes architect VOA Associates and developer CenterPoint Properties.

The University of North Carolina's $126 million Genetic Medicine Building will open in fall of 2008 in Chapel Hill. Housing the School of Medicine, the School of Pharmacy, and the Division of Laboratory Animal Medicine, the 333,000-sf facility will house the medical school's departments of biochemistry, pharmacology, and genetics. The project will include open laboratories, classrooms, offices, NMR, and vivaria. Ground was broken on the seven-story building in February 2005.

University of Iowa Health Care has selected HKS Architects as the master facilities planner for the construction of a critical care tower and children’s hospital in Iowa City. The architect of record is Heery International with Stanley Beaman & Sears Architecture and Interiors of Atlanta as pediatric architect. Construction will commence in May of 2010 with completion slated for fall of 2013. The project cost is estimated at between $700 and $850 million.

Laboratory Corporation (LabCorp) is partnering with Duke University’s Translational Medicine Institute to build a 40,000-sf biorepository at the North Carolina Research Campus in Kannapolis. Construction began in summer of 2008 and will reach completion by spring of 2009. Housing laboratories, offices, computer rooms, and freezers, the laboratory will have the capacity to store up to 10 million specimens and patient samples for researchers in the academic, healthcare, biomedical, and pharmaceutical sectors.

Eastern Mennonite University is planning a $30 million expansion and renovation of the Suter Science Center in Harrisonburg, Va. The project will include a $22 million, 42,712-sf addition and an $8 million, 48,000-sf renovation of the existing science building. The facility will house research labs, faculty offices, classrooms, a museum, a two-story atrium, and teaching labs for biology, chemistry, and physics. The nursing education program will also be housed in the new building.

Rice University is constructing the Collaborative Research Center in Houston. The 477,000-gsf project broke ground in December of 2006 and is slated for completion in early spring of 2009. Sited on 2.9 acres, the ten-story facility will accommodate bioscience and biotechnology research. The estimated construction cost of the LEED-certified facility is between $200 million and $300 million.