Higher Education

The University of Tennessee at Knoxville is partnering with Oak Ridge National Laboratory to create the Cherokee Farm research campus in Knoxville. The project will include preservation of prehistoric remains and the relocation of an existing dairy farm to create a LEED-certified R&D incubator for commercialization of scientific discoveries. Research areas will include leadership and network computing; neutron science; nanotechnology and materials science; energy, climate, and environmental science; and biomedical science.

Youngstown State University began site work in summer of 2008 for the 106,000-sf Williamson College of Business Administration in Youngstown, Ohio. A ceremonial groundbreaking for the $34.3 million facility will be held in fall of 2008 with construction beginning in 2009. Completion is slated for fall of 2010. Housing instructional and administrative space, the building will double the footprint of the university’s existing business school. LEED certification for sustainable design will be sought for the project.

Purdue University will break ground in fall of 2008 on an $11 million expansion of the Ray W. Herrick Laboratories in West Lafayette, Ind.  The new facility will double the lab’s existing footprint of 27,500-sf to provide a total of 52,000-sf. The first phase of the project will be comprised of 16,000-sf for the Perception-Based Engineering Laboratory and the Cummins Engine Laboratory. Housing offices and experimental facilities for over 100 faculty, graduate students, and staff, the project will feature noise and vibration mitigation technologies.

Clemson University is constructing the $11.5 million Rhodes Hall Annex in Clemson, S.C. The 30,000-sf facility will house research labs, teaching labs, and classrooms for the bioengineering department. Built to attain LEED Silver sustainable design certification, the three-story building will be constructed of materials sourced from within a 500 mile radius of the project. Construction waste will be recycled, including removed trees being converted to mulch.

The University of California, Merced is planning to construct a $7.5 million stem cell instrumentation foundry on its campus at Castle Airport in Atwater, Calif.  Supported by $4.36 million in funding from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the 8,000-sf facility will enable the creation of devices for single-cell analyses.

The University of Prince Edward Island’s Atlantic Veterinary College opened its $20 million Research Complex in Charlottetown in July of 2008. The 5,300-sm building will house the Centre for Bioactive Valuation, the Centre for Comparative Biomedical Research, and the Lobster Science Centre. Providing 1,100 sm of additional research laboratories and a $3 million CL3 (containment level 3) facility, the project is part of $45 million in infrastructure improvements planned and under way at the veterinary college.

The University of California, San Diego has selected EMCOR subsidiaries Dynalectric Company and University Mechanical & Engineering Contractors to provide the electrical and mechanical infrastructure for the 128,000-sf Sulpizio Family Cardiovascular Center in San Diego.

Lee University will initiate construction in July of 2008 on a 73,000-sf laboratory and classroom facility for science and mathematics instruction in Cleveland, Tenn. The $14 million facility will be comprised of two wings connected by a central commons and will house a 150-seat lecture hall, 13 classrooms, 10 laboratories, 30 faculty offices, a large student lounge, reading rooms, and two computer labs.

The University of California at Santa Cruz will construct a $12.9 million stem cell research center on the fourth floor of its planned Biomedical Sciences Building. Supported by $7.2 million in funding from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), the 19,829-sf facility will house interdisciplinary stem cell research laboratories. The project will include core research areas, microscopy, and tissue culture rooms. 

The University of Minnesota will construct a plant pathogen laboratory with greenhouses on its St. Paul campus. The project was approved by the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service in June of 2008 and will accommodate research on diseases such as the virulent stem rust Ug99. The secure facility will feature advanced air filtration and containment technologies.

IBM is partnering with The Swiss Technical University (ETH) to construct a £44 million nanotechnology laboratory near Zurich, Switzerland. Housing 900-sm of cleanroom space, the facility will accommodate 268-sm for IBM, 258-sm for ETH, and 400-sm of shared research space. The building will be sited on IBM’s Rueschlikon campus and will house temperature-stable laboratories protected from vibrations and EMI. The facility will accommodate research on nanotubes, nano-optics, spintronics, and carbon-based materials.

The University of Oklahoma is constructing two facilities for the College of Engineering in Norman. The 103,118-sf Devon Energy Hall will provide teaching labs, classrooms, research areas, and meeting rooms. The five-story facility will house the School of Computer Science and School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. The 41,052-sf, two-story ExxonMobil Lawrence G. Rawl Engineering Practice Facility will include 10,000-sf of space for engineering projects, computer labs, and tutoring.

The University of Victoria opened its $37.7 million social sciences and mathematics facility in late June of 2008. The 9,090-sm building houses classrooms, research labs, lecture halls, offices, and meeting rooms for geography, environmental studies, political science, and mathematics. The facility, which features two green roofs, was built to LEED Gold sustainable design standards and houses the Water & Climate Impacts Research Centre. Sustainable design features include natural ventilation, energy efficient lighting, and use of recycled construction materials.

The University of California, Santa Barbara is renovating 10,337-sf in its Biological Sciences 2 Facility to house the Center for Stem Cell Biology and Engineering. The $6.3 million project is funded by $3.2 million from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. The collaborative stem cell research facility will include a core laboratory with a high throughput sequencing apparatus, offices, conference rooms, and support.

The University of Alabama is planning to construct the 63,000-sf Capstone College of Nursing in Tuscaloosa. The $20 million, three-story facility will create a new gateway to the campus. The project manager is Hoar Construction.