Higher Education

The University of California, San Diego has selected  Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects to design a new biomedical research facility on the Health Sciences campus in La Jolla. The project will include approximately 150,000-sf of wet-bench laboratories, laboratory support, laboratory core facilities, and office/conference space to accommodate biomedical research programs at UCSD’s School of Medicine, including a new multi-department program in genomic medicine and expanded department of neurosciences.

D'Youville College will initiate construction in May of 2008 on a $20 million academic center on its West Side campus in Buffalo, N.Y. Designed by Cannon Design, the 93,000-sf, six-story facility will house classrooms, laboratories, faculty and administrative offices, conference rooms, and space for a pharmacy program. The project manager is Savarino Cos. of Buffalo.

The University of Kansas Medical Center has received a $3 million grant from the Economic Development Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce to create a life sciences incubator. The $6.25 million project includes renovation of the on-campus Breidenthal building to create a 40,000-sf facility housing laboratories, offices, commons, telecommunications, and a 6,000-sf wet lab. The incubator will support 10 companies.

Yale School of Medicine completed the fit-out of a 70,000-sf translational research facility at its New Haven, Conn., campus in March of 2008. The project contractor was Tucker Mechanical, a subsidiary of EMCOR Group. Tucker Mechanical provided all HVAC and plumbing for the 70,000 square-foot building which was originally designed as an office. Comprised of five floors and a penthouse, the building was constructed to attain LEED certification.

The University of California, Riverside’s 82,000-sf Genomics Building reached 50 percent completion in March of 2008. The five-level facility broke ground in October of 2006 and will house research laboratories and academic space for the Institute for Integrative Genome Biology, which includes the Center for Plant Cell Biology, the Biotechnology Impacts Center and the Center for Disease-Vector Research. The building will house over 200 researchers and staff from the departments of botany and plant sciences, plant pathology, entomology, and neurosciences.

Santa Clara University dedicated the new 194,000-sf Harrington Learning Commons, Sobrato Technology Center, and Orradre Library in Santa Clara, Calif., on March 14, 2008. The building merges liberal arts education with modern information technologies to form what is expected to become the intellectual heart of the Mission campus. Designed to foster collaborative learning, the new four-level building occupies the site of SCU’s former Orradre Library and has nearly twice the square footage.

Pennsylvania State University broke ground in March of 2008 on a $50 million facility for the Dickinson School of Law on the Carlisle campus. Designed and engineered by Polshek Partnership Architects with Gilbane as construction manager, the 94,000-sf project will feature ceremonial courtrooms, legislative hearing rooms, an auditorium, lecture halls, library, and technology-rich classrooms and instructional spaces. LEED certification will be sought for the project. Completion is slated for December 2009.

The National Centre for Zoonosis Research opened in Leahurst in the United Kingdom in March of 2008. Based at the Liverpool University Leahurst veterinary field station, the facility will accommodate collaborative zoonotic disease research. Supported by a £1.7 million grant from the North West Development Agency, the project included renovating a former graduate student housing facility to accommodate a suite of Category 3 laboratories, including a bacterial zoonoses lab, administrative offices, and lecture facilities.

Yale University is planning to construct a 180,000-sf biomedical research building in New Haven, Conn. Designed by Pelli Clark Pelli, the five-story facility will be comprised of an underground lab support floor, three floors of laboratories, and a mechanical penthouse and greenhouses on the fourth floor. LEED Gold certification for sustainable design will be sought for the project. The research facility will be connected to the Kline Biology Tower by a bridge. 

The University of Miami will complete the ten-story, 188,000-sf Interdisciplinary Wet Lab Research Facility in spring of 2008. The facility will house laboratories, offices, interdisciplinary research groups, interaction spaces, and a vivarium. The construction manager is Moss & Associates. LEED certification will be sought for the project, which will connect to the existing Fox Research Facility on the University’s Medical Campus in Miami.

The University of Utah is planning to construct a new $40 million, 80,000-sf facility for the Jon M. Hunst School of Business. The five-story building will house auditoriums, classrooms, offices, the Ethical Leadership Center, the Global Management Center, and the Entrepreneurship Center. The project will connect on several floors to the existing school of business, which will also be renovated.

The University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) will begin construction in March of 2008 on the $120 million General Motors of Canada Centre of Automotive Excellence in Oshawa, Canada. Designed by Diamond + Schmitt Architects Inc., the research and development facility includes a four story wind tunnel and will be built by Vanbots Construction.

Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Ind., approved the construction of the $34.5 million Roger B. Gatewood Wing of the Mechanical Engineering Building in February of 2008. The project will house teaching labs, a 120-seat classroom, instructional space, research laboratories, a tech atrium, offices, and Prototype Engineering and Realization Lab breakout space. LEED certification will be sought for the 84,500-sf energy-efficient wing, which will be constructed as an addition to the School of Mechanical Engineering building.

Indiana University’s Simon Hall received “High Honors” in the 2008 R&D Magazine Lab of the Year competition. The new multidisciplinary science building is located on the Bloomington campus and was designed by Flad Architects. The six-story, 140,000-sf project is sited at the intersection of the departments of chemistry, biology, and biochemistry and houses flexible laboratories, technical support areas, and analytical instrument facilities.

The University of Vermont has received a LEED Gold designation for its $70 million student union, the Dudley H. Davis Center in Burlington. The 220,000-sf facility broke ground in spring of 2005 and reached completion in August of 2007. The project is divided into two main building components: a four-level student union and a two-level, 600-seat performing arts theater. The student union features an atrium and includes a natural chimney that evacuates smoke, in the event of fire, without needing energy-intensive mechanical systems.