Higher Education

Texas A&M University celebrated the opening of the QR520mn Engineering Research Building in Doha, Qatar, in March 2007. Located in the Qatar Foundation’s Education City, the facility is designed to be the most technologically advanced engineering research and education facility in the world. Designed by architects Ricardo Legorreta and Victor Legorreta, the complex consists of a four-story academic quadrangle connected to a three-story research building via an open multi-story atrium.

The University of Toledo has selected SSOE, Inc. and Ellerbe Becket as the architects for its upcoming Athletics Complex project. The project includes the construction of an addition to Savage Hall, the renovation of the Savage Hall arena, and the construction of an indoor practice facility adjacent to Savage Hall. Designs for Savage Hall and the new indoor practice facility will be unveiled in late 2007.

Humboldt State University is constructing a hydrogen fueling station at the Schatz Energy Research Center in Arcata, Calif. Funded in part by a $350,000 gift from Chevron Technology Ventures, the station will include an electrolyzer for on-site hydrogen production, storage tanks, a compressor, and a dispenser. The station is part of California's Hydrogen Highway program and will fuel a hydrogen-powered Toyota Prius and two additional vehicles.

The University of Cincinnati is engaged in a renovation and expansion of its Medical Sciences Building that is slated for completion in early 2008. The project includes clinical research space, infrastructure upgrades, a new library, bookstore, and study areas. The Medical Sciences Building will be connected to the new 239,000-sf Center for Academic Research Excellence (CARE) by glass bridges. The CARE facility wil house six floors of wet bench laboratories, one floor of teaching labs, a dining facility, a fitness center, electronic classrooms, and administration.

The University of Oklahoma is planning to build the 152,000-sf Life Sciences Research Center on its south campus in Norman, Okla. Funded in part by a $15-million private donation, the three-story facility will accommodate 30 life sciences research groups. Featuring an open and flexible design, the center will include space for industry collaboration as well as core research support facilities for the entire campus.

Smith College is initiating construction on Ford Hall, a new science and engineering center designed by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson. RFD (Research Facilities Design) is providing laboratory design consulting services. The facility will house the Picker Engineering Program and programs in biochemistry, chemistry, computer science, and molecular biology.

UC Davis is proposing to construct five new buildings at the California National Primate Research Center in Davis, Calif. A $5.3-million, 10,000-sf building would accommodate virology and immunology research and would include a 1,100-sf BSL-3 laboratory. Four additional modular buildings would have a footprint of approximately 1,500 sf each, two comprised of laboratory space and two housing office space. Each of the modular buildings would cost approximately $800,000.

Gartnavel General Hospital has initiated construction on the £9.5-million Paul O’Gorman Leukaemia Research Centre in Glasgow, Scotland. The facility will feature three floors of laboratory space for blood diagnostics and treatment including hematology, hematooncology, immunology, tissue typing, and blood cancer research. The Leukaemia Research Centre is a joint project of the National Health Service for Scotland and the University of Glasgow and is located on the same site as the West of Scotland Beatson Oncology Centre.

The University of Connecticut has purchased the 113,000-sf FarmTech building in Farmington and will spend $35-million to renovate it as a Center of Innovation for stem cell, genetics, and bioengineering research. Sited on 24 acres, the cross-disciplinary, collaborative facility will house wet and dry laboratories, business incubator space, classrooms, and the University’s human embryonic stem cell core laboratory. Sustainable design features of the building will include heat recovery systems and gray water recycling. The Center of Innovation is expected to open in 2009.

The University of Texas, Austin will renovate the 256,000-sf Experimental Science Building to accommodate modern academic science with technology-enabled classrooms, offices, and undergraduate teaching and research labs. The $125-million project will help to recruit and retain faculty in the fields of neuroscience, computational biology, environmental sciences, pharmacy, and molecular and cellular biology.

Idaho State University is partnering with the Idaho National Laboratory to construct the Center for Advanced Energy Studies (CAES) in Idaho Falls. The CAES facility will be an international user facility for promoting and performing research and revitalizing education and training in nuclear energy science, engineering, technology, and related disciplines. The facility is expected to encompass 50,000 gsf to 60,000 gsf with approximately half of the building dedicated to laboratory space. Occupancy is slated for 2008.

The University of Memphis in Tennessee will spend $36 million on four major infrastructure improvement projects. The first is the $15-million installation at the relocated Law School of two to three 1,000-ton chillers and three to four 100,000 pound-per-hour natural gas fired boilers to provide steam and chilled water. The project was designed by Askew Nixon Ferguson Architects of Memphis. Construction will begin in summer of 2007 with completion slated for spring of 2008.

Florida Atlantic University (FAU) is planning to construct the $400 million Charles E. Schmidt Medical Center on 38 acres of its Boca Raton campus. The new academic medical center will be created as a partnership between FAU, the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, and Boca Raton Community Hospital.

Yale University is developing the West Campus, an interdisciplinary research hub for disciplines including biology, chemistry, environmental science, and physics. Located on 136 acres in West Haven, Conn., the site was previously owned by Bayer and includes 17 buildings comprising 1.5 million-sf with 550,000-sf of biology and chemistry research laboratories. Renovations to the facilities will continue through summer of 2008 when initial occupancy will begin.

The University of California San Francisco Medical Center has selected architectural firm Anshen + Allen to design its $1.3-billion Mission Bay hospital complex. The first phase of the project is slated to begin construction in 2011 and reach completion in 2014. The project will include a 70-bed cancer center, a 289-bed acute care facility, a 183-bed children’s hospital, and a 36-bed women’s facility.