Higher Education

The University of Iowa broke ground on the $47.7 million College of Public Health Academic Building in Iowa City in October of 2007. The five-story, 130,000-gsf facility is comprised of two wings and will house faculty and administrative offices, an auditorium, classrooms, and student space. Designed by Payette of Boston and Rohrbach Associates PC of Iowa City, the facility will seek LEED sustainable design certification for features including reflective roofing, use of natural light, and permeable paving systems.

The University of Colorado is planning to construct the 260,000-sf Jennie Smoly Caruthers Biotechnology Center in Boulder. Funded in part by a $20 million donation from faculty biochemistry professor and Amgen founder Marvin Caruthers, the $115 million multidisciplinary facility will bring together biologists, computer scientists, engineers, chemists, and physicists. The project is part of the University’s Colorado Initiative in Molecular Biotechnology.

With ARAMARK as its commissioning agent, the new science building at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pa., has been awarded a Silver Rating from the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System. This is the first building on the college’s campus to be LEED certified. The 47,000-sf facility houses the life science laboratories, classrooms, and offices.

Florida International University has selected HOK to design the 103,000-sf College of Nursing & Health Sciences building in Miami. Housing all seven college departments, the facility will feature eight simulator rooms for nursing and health science instruction. The technology-rich building’s 15 laboratories, two 150-seat classrooms, and three auditoriums will foster interdisciplinary collaborative learning. Completion is slated for 2009.

The State of New Jersey has selected architectural firm Ballinger of Philadelphia to design the planned $50 million Integrated Biology and Genomic Medicine Institute in Camden. The project construction manager for the stem-cell research center is Skanska of Parsippany. The facility will be owned by Rutgers University-Camden; research partners include the Coriell Institute, Cooper University Hospital; and Robert Wood Johnson Medical School at Camden.

Yale University has selected London-based architectural firm Foster + Partners to design the new School of Management (SOM) campus. Sited on 4.25 acres in New Haven, Conn., the 230,000-square-foot facility more than doubles the size of the existing 110,000-sf school of management and is expected to attain LEED certification. The building will house classrooms, faculty offices, administration, and student and community spaces. Construction is expected to reach completion in 2011.

California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) is planning to construct the Center for Science and Mathematics in San Luis Obispo. Designed by Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects of Los Angeles with Research Facilities Design (RFD) as laboratory design consultant, the project will provide classroom and science laboratory space for the College of Science and Mathematics in an approximately 86,349 to 102,233 assignable-square-foot building. The estimated construction cost is between $69,365,000 and $83,198,000.

The University of Minnesota opened the $21.7 million Education Sciences Building in Minneapolis on Oct. 5, 2007. The renovated 69,808-sf facility formerly housed the Mineral Resources Research Center. Construction began on the project in spring of 2005. Housing laboratory, office, and meeting space for the College of Education and Human Development, the renovation included the addition of infill floors and replacement of all mechanical, electrical, circulation and infrastructure equipment.

Colorado State University celebrated the opening of its $30 million Regional Biocontainment Laboratory on October 2, 2007. Sited on the Foothills Campus in Fort Collins, the 38,000-sf aerosol challenge facility will house mice for infectious disease and potential bioterror agent research. The BSL-3 laboratory features a $600,000 mass spectrometer, autoclaves, seven-layer epoxy floors, and rigorous HEPA air filtration. The project was built by a joint venture of Heath Construction with Hensel Phelps Construction.

The University of Calgary opened the $28.8 million Child Development Centre (CDC) in Calgary, Alberta, in October of 2007. The 128,000-sf facility is four stories tall with a parking garage and houses offices, research laboratories, and child care space. Construction began on the CDC in October of 2005. The University hopes to attain a LEED Platinum certification for the facility as part of an initiative for all new buildings to target a Platinum sustainable design level.

Peking University Health Science Center, located in Beijing, China, entered into a strategic partnership with Duke Medicine in September of 2007. Enabling the integration of healthcare delivery, the seven-year agreement will bring Duke University administrators, faculty, and researchers to Beijing to develop concepts for systems and services integration to enhance operational efficiency.

Henry Ford Hospital opened the $5 million Center for Simulation, Education and Research in Detroit in early fall of 2007. The 12,000-sf facility houses two simulation operating theaters (including a $1.6 million robot system), six clinical rooms, a 30-station minimally invasive procedure lab, and two classrooms. The mannequin and computer-rich spaces are reconfigurable for training in surgery, labor and delivery, intensive care, and emergency procedures.

Wells College will dedicate the 45,000-sf Ann Wilder Stratton ’46 Hall in Aurora, N.Y. on September 29, 2007. The flexible three-level science facility will accommodate interdisciplinary teaching and research, faculty offices, classrooms, laboratories, a 92-seat lecture hall, and a two-story atrium. The $19 million project was designed by HOLT Architects of Ithaca with LeCesse Construction Company of Rochester as general contractor.

The University of California, Los Angeles’ Biomedical Sciences Research Building and Orthopaedic Hospital Research Center was dedicated on Semptember 27, 2007. Designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects to foster interdisciplinary collaboration, the facility accommodates research in stem cells, microbiology, orthopaedic medicine, immunology, biological chemistry, molecular, cell and developmental biology, and AIDS research. The 230,000-sf technology-rich center is sited on the UCLA campus and will house over 450 researchers in open, flexible laboratories.

Colorado State University has selected Heath Construction to build the $6.75 million third phase of Colorado State University's Bioenvironmental Research Building. The 21,700-sf, three-story addition to the existing Bioenvironmental Research Building is scheduled for completion in late 2008. The expansion will house research programs on infectious diseases and an array of mechanical and technical systems.