Higher Education

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is planning a renovation and expansion of the Jonsson-Rowland Science Center in Troy, N.Y.  The project aims to reduce existing deferred maintenance costs on the facility, constructed in 1961, by $20 million. An addition called the New Center for Science will connect via a glass atrium to the existing science center and will add 100,000-sf to 120,000-sf of wet laboratories for biology and physics teaching and research. Renovations to the existing facility will create dry labs, classrooms, offices, and conference rooms.

The University of Maryland, Baltimore received $62 million from the state of Maryland in April of 2008 to construct an addition to the School of Pharmacy. The seven-story facility will house four floors of clinical and translational research in pharmacogenetics, nanomedicine, and drug discovery. Featuring technology-rich lecture halls and a patient interaction laboratory, the 92,635-sf project will connect to the existing Pharmacy Hall via a glass pavilion.

Johns Hopkins University opened the John G. Rangos Sr. Life Sciences Building in East Baltimore, Md., on April 11, 2008. The University will occupy 100,000-sf of lab and office space in the 278,000-sf facility. The $60 million, seven-story building will provide interdisciplinary research space for the Institute for Basic Biomedical Sciences in the areas of epigenetics, sensory biology, cell dynamics, and metabolism and obesity research.

Purdue University broke ground on the $14.5 million Purdue Technology Center II on April 7, 2008. The 105,000-sf project will support 26 companies and represents a 13-acre expansion of the 725-acre Purdue Research Park in West Lafayette, Ind. Additionally, Purdue is planning to construct the Paul W. Ogle Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering Laboratories at the Purdue University College of Technology in New Albany. The laboratories, which will include equipment such as a rapid prototyping machine, are expected to open in fall 2008.

Duke University School of Medicine is planning to build a $35 million medical education facility in Durham, N.C.  Housing instruction and clinical and basic research, the Education Center will include classrooms, lecture halls, offices, meeting rooms, and simulation laboratories for team-based learning programs. Additionally, Duke will build a $15 million facility for the McGovern-Davison Children’s Health Center consolidating inpatient and outpatient care for children and adolescents.

The University of Rhode Island has initiated construction on the $15 million Undersea Exploration Center in Narragansett. The project, which includes an expansion and rehabilitation of the Pell Marine Science Library, is being constructed by Gilbane Building Companies. Designed by Burt Hill of Boston, the project will integrate key resources and services of the Graduate School of Oceanography.

Villanova University is constructing a 174,000-sf law school on its campus in Villanova, Pa. Slated for completion in summer of 2009, the facility will include a law clinic, library, classrooms, meeting rooms, and a parking garage. The building will be constructed to meet LEED sustainable design specifications. Completion is expected in summer of 2009.

The University of Alberta is constructing the $12 million Centre for Prions and Protein Folding Diseases in its Environmental Engineering Buildings in Edmonton. The first phase of the project, which opened in December of 2007, consists of two renovated laboratories. Phase two is comprised of four additional laboratories housing researchers from the faculties of Science, Medicine & Dentistry, and Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences.

The University of California, Los Angeles is building the 175,000-gsf Life Sciences Replacement Building (LSRB). The project began in June of 2007 and is slated for completion in spring of 2010. Housing the departments of physiological science, ecology and evolutionary biology, and molecular, cellular and developmental biology, the $155 million research laboratory is comprised of two seismically separated five-story wings with a shared basement.

The University of Texas at Austin is constructing a 6,000-sf vivarium connecting to the Neural and Molecular Biology Building. The $15 million facility is slated for completion in 2008. The University is also developing the $125 million, 256,000-sf Experimental Science Building housing laboratory, classroom, and office space to support research in computational biology, environmental sciences, pharmacy, and molecular and cellular biology. Completion is expected by 2010.

Texas A&M University broke ground in April of 2008 on the $47.8 million Texas Institute of Preclinical Studies (TIPS) in the A&M Research Park in Bryan. The 112,000-sf biomedical and animal research facility will support development and commercialization of therapies for diseases including cancer, heart disease, and Alzheimer’s.

Ithaca College completed the 38,000-sf College School of Business in March of 2008. The facility was designed by Robert A.M. Stern Architects and built by Gilbane. The project is aiming for a LEED Platinum rating and will include a Center for Sustainable Management to incorporate green business principles into Ithaca’s MBA program. The School of Business features a green roof, a storm water collection system and is landscaped with an indigenous plant selection that requires no irrigation.

The Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute will officially open its new $32 million Alzheimer’s research facility on West Virginia University's Morgantown health sciences campus on September 19, 2008. Housing 20 researchers, the 78,000-sf facility includes 20,000-sf of lab and office space, open labs with ten feet of bench space per researcher, microscopy and electrophysiology labs, a darkroom, and a commons area. The three-story facility will be able to accommodate up to 100 researchers.

East Carolina University rededicated the Carol Belk Building in Greenville, N.C., on March 28. Designed by MHAworks, the $9 million renovation project transformed the existing facility to create a home of the College of Health and Human Performance. Designed to promote interaction, the Belk Building houses research laboratories up to BSL-3, teaching labs with low flow hoods and customized storage systems, three auditoriums, offices, work rooms, and conference rooms. The facility features extensive daylighting and an exterior low-e glazing.

Drexel University is initiating $400 million in capital projects on its University City campus in Philadelphia. Comprised of 11 projects slated for completion by 2013, the campus master plan was designed by Sasaki Associates. Facilities include the Integrated Sciences Building, featuring a 40-foot biofilter wall using living plants as an air filter for dust particles, and a $42 million expansion of the recreation center. Additionally, ground will be broken for a new dormitory in April of 2008 with occupancy expected in fall of 2009.