Higher Education

The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill will begin construction in March of 2008 on a new chemistry building to replace the 80-year-old Venable Hall. The $123 million facility is slated for completion by August of 2010. Housing teaching and research space for chemistry, marine science, physics, astronomy, and computer science, the building will feature a 400-seat lecture hall and a new science library. The replacement facility is the last phase of UNC’s new Science Complex construction, which began in 2001.

Northern Arizona University’s Applied Research and Development (ARD) Building was awarded a LEED Platinum certification by the U.S. Green Building Council in January of 2008. The project was designed by Burns Wald-Hopkins Architects and built by Kitchell Construction. The top floor of the three-story facility will house NAU's Center for Microbial Genetics and Genomics. The 59,821-sf facility, which opened in September of 2008, is the most sustainably designed building in Arizona and one of the top three greenest buildings in the world.

Missouri State University is planning to construct an electromagnetic device fabrication laboratory at the Jordan Valley Innovation Center (JVIC) in Springfield. Funded by a $125,000 donation from the Bank of America Charitable Foundation, the facility will enable scientists from academia and industry to engage in nanotechnology research and development to create devices that can sense heat, radio, or microwave energy for defense and homeland security applications.

The University of Pennsylvania has selected SmithGroup to provide master planning, programming, and schematic design for a new School of Arts and Sciences (SAS) Neural and Behavioral Sciences (NBS) Building in Philadelphia. The facility unites the Psychology, Biology, Genomics Institute, and Biological Basis of Behavior departments under one roof, creating synergy in teaching and research.

California State University, Fresno was awarded a five-year, $45 million grant from the National Institutes of Health’s National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities in early 2008 to construct a new biomedical research facility. CSU Fresno is one of 19 universities in the nation to receive the award. Aiming to integrate teaching and research, the project will support the Research Infrastructure in Minority Institutions (RIMI) program.

Cuyamaca College completed the $45 million Communication Arts Center in El Cajon, Calif. in January of 2008. Gafcon Inc. provided construction oversight for the 88,590-sf building in Rancho San Diego (East San Diego County). Spencer/Hoskins Associates served as the project architect, and Rudolph and Sletten provided construction management services.

Ohio University broke ground on in January of 2008 on the Academic & Research Center in Athens. The $30 million classroom and laboratory building will house the Russ College of Engineering and Technology and the College of Osteopathic Medicine in a collaborative facility featuring 12 medical and six integrated research labs, flexible classrooms, project rooms, and an engineering hangar. Designed by Columbus-based engineering and architectural firm Burgess & Niple, the ARC is slated to open in fall of 2009.

The University of California, Riverside broke ground on its new Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) Building on January 10, 2008. The $53-million project will be the first facility at UCR devoted to nanotechnology research and is slated for completion in 2010. The 77,000-asf project will accommodate interdisciplinary instruction and research in nanotechnology, materials science, and bioengineering. The facility will house joint programs for the Bourns College of Engineering and the College of Natural and Agricultural Sciences.

The Georgia Institute of Technology is constructing the $80 million Marcus Nanotechnology Building in Atlanta. Ground was broken on the project, which houses the NRCB (Nanotechnology Research Center Building) cleanrooms, in August of 2006 with completion slated for summer of 2008. The project is comprised of five stories of laboratory and office space and a 30,000-sf, three-level cleanroom.

Michigan State University’s College of Human Medicine will begin construction in spring of 2008 on a $90 million medical school campus in Grand Rapids. The 180,000-sf facility will be called the Secchia Center and will partner with institutions including Spectrum Health, the Van Andel Institute, and Saint Mary's Health Care. Comprised of seven medical school floors and a five-story parking garage, the center will feature an atrium connecting floors one through four and a smaller atrium on floors five and six.

Bristol University is constructing the £11 million Centre for Nanoscience and Quantum Information in the United Kingdom. Slated for completion in spring of 2008, the facility will feature advanced noise and vibration reduction technologies. The building will accommodate researchers from the disciplines of biology, chemistry, computer science, engineering, mathematics, and physics engaged in nanotechnology and quantum computation research.

Palm Beach Community College (PBCC) opened the 91,000-sf BioScience Technology Complex in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. in January of 2008. Featuring state-of-the-art laboratories to support the college’s associate's degree in biotechnology, the project will enable students to acquire the skills required by local employers such as Scripps Research Institute. The $15 million facility also houses a wellness center, a lecture hall, and meeting rooms. PBCC is also constructing a $9.2 million, 50,000-sf science building on its Lake Worth campus.

The University of California, Los Angeles dedicated the California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI) facility on December 14, 2007. Designed by architect Rafael Viñoly, the interdisciplinary facility houses laboratories and leading edge equipment for nanoscience research and development. The Institute accommodates 75 faculty members and researchers and over 300 graduate students engaged in creating biomedical, manufacturing, and information technologies.

Ohio University is planning to construct a $450,000 animal research facility south of its Athens campus in Hebbardsville. The facility will accommodate large animals including cattle and goats for anatomy and physiology studies. Designed to promote faculty recruitment, the facility will enable research on locomotion, feeding, and craniofacial morphology.

Colorado State University broke ground in December of 2007 on a $42 million veterinary science facility in Fort Collins. The 90,000-sf diagnostic medicine center will house specialty laboratories for zoonotic disease research. The facility is one of seven in the nation selected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to test for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease.