Higher Education

The University of Alabama at Birmingham is initiating the second phase of its Richard C. and Annette N. Shelby Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research Building project. Phase two will cost approximately $120 million and will add 30,000-sf of research space, including the $7.89-million fit-out of the sixth and eleventh floors to house immunological and neuroscientific research, including the expansion of the Evelyn F. McKnight Brain Institute. The contractor is Argo Construction.

The University of California San Francisco (UCSF) broke ground in April 2006 on the Helen Diller Family Cancer Research Building, a five-story, 160,000-sf facility designed by Rafael Vinoly. The building will more than double the space for UCSF Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers to focus on a variety of cancers including prostate, kidney,and brain. The UCSF Cancer Research Institute will be housed in the new facility, where research on the basic biological mechanisms of cancer will be carried out in 15 major laboratories.

Wake Forest University and industry partners celebrated the grand opening of the 189,000-sf Biotechnology Research Facility 1 in Winston-Salem's Piedmont Triad Research Park in May of 2006. The five-story, $60-million facility will house space for private companies and academic space for Wake Forest Health Sciences' Institute for Regenerative Medicine and the Lipid Sciences program.   

The state of Florida now has designs for a prototype science buildling, thanks to a joint effort by Palm Beach Community College (PBCC) and three other colleges. The design is expected to save millions of dollars in architectural fees. PBCC will implement the design in its plans for a new 81,000-sf BioScience Technology Complex, which broke ground in April 2006.

San Francisco State University (SFSU) is in the early planning stages for a state-of-the-art new media and digital cinema campus to be housed in an existing 320,000-sf structure at the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, a 500-acre shipyard redevelopment project led by developer Lennar Corp. Phase One of the redevelopment is under construction with completion in late 2007. The digital arts campus would be part of Phase Two, an 80-acre development focused on industry and job creation providing approximately 2 million sf of R&D and office space.

The University of Chicago dedicated its new 400,000-sf Center for Integrative Science (CIS) building in late April 2006. The facility is designed for cutting-edge interdisciplinary research in medicine and technology, much of which will be done at the nano-level, where several sciences converge. The facility will house the Institute for Biophysical Dynamics, a joint effort of the Division of Biological Sciences and the division of Physical Sciences.

A new federally funded $25-million research laboratory will be located on the University of Kentucky's College of Agriculture campus in Lexington, Ky. Design of the new facility has been awarded to the Washington, D.C., office of RTKL Associates Inc. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service will manage the building, which will include a 64,000-sf lab and a 11,000-sf greenhouse. The greenhouse is scheduled to begin construction in early 2007.

The University of Connecticut dedicated its $73-million School of Pharmacy/Biology Building on the Storrs campus in spring of 2006. Gilbane Building Company was construction manager, partnering with architects Davis, Brody & Bond on the 226,000-sf centerpiece to the school's Science Quad. The two-story research and teaching tower includes toxicology labs, pharmacology, high-technology classrooms, and a 150-seat lecture room with high speed data connections, cameras, and plasma TVs to facilitate distance learning.

Arizona State University has dedicated its new $58-million Interdisciplinary Science and Technology Building 1(ISTB1) on its Tempe, Ariz., campus. Gilbane Building Company was construction manager for the 178,000-sf, 18-month fast-track project designed by architectural firm Perkins + Will. The trans-disciplinary ISTB1 provides space for high-technology research in biogeochemistry, bioengineering, environmental studies, and environmental fluid dynamics.

East Stroudsburg University broke ground on its new 124,000-sf Science and Technology Center in late spring of 2006. Designed by Gensler, the $27-million facility will provide the Pennsylvania university with classrooms, research laboratories, a planetarium, an auditorium, and an observatory. Programs to occupy the building include biotechnology, computer security, mathematics, computer science, chemistry, biology, and physics. Completion is slated for fall of 2008.

Colgate University has named Gilbane Building Company as construction manager for the 101,000-sf renovation and 51,000-sf addition to the Case Library and Center for Information Technology in Hamilton, N.Y. Teaming up with architects Kendall/Heaton & Abbott and Shepley Bullfinch, the $45-million project will bring texts and technology together in a distinctive building that will provide students and faculty with sophisticated electronic resources and easier access to Colgate's outstanding bound collections.

Montclair State University officially opened University Hall in Montclair, N.J., on March 27, 2006. The 270,000-sf building is one of New Jersey's most technologically advanced classroom facilities and the new home of the University's nationally recognized College of Education & Human Services. It houses 52 state-of-the-art, technologically advanced classrooms; lecture halls; student study rooms and lounges; conference rooms; and offices for faculty and staff.

Jackson State University broke ground on March 31, 2006 on a $20-million, 90,000-sf engineering building. Slated for completion by fall of 2007, the building will house an auditorium, two-tiered classrooms, faculty and student lounges, and a wireless communication infrastructure. The building will consolidate engineering education and administration on the university's Jackson, Miss., campus.

The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) dedicated the Richard C. and Annette N. Shelby Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research Building on March 31, 2006. The $76-million, 323,000-sf facility is comprised of 12 stories of research and office space. Three floors remain unfinished to allow for additional phases of construction tentatively slated for completion by fall of 2007. The building increases UAB's research space by 25 percent.  

The University of Iowa dedicated the $43-million Carver Biomedical Research Building in Iowa City on March 31, 2006. The facility will accommodate the study of molecules, proteins and biological structures on five floors of research laboratory space including a state-of-the-art NMR facility. The building is the newest addition to the Carver College of Medicine and is connected to the Medical Education and Research Facility.