Higher Education

The University of Louisville is developing the Gheens Foundation Biosensor Reseach Center in Louisville. Funded by a $1.5 million pledge from the Gheens Foundation, the center will conduct biosensor research to create new devices and enable existing heart devices to function more compatibly with the human body. The research center will be part of the new $27.6 million Cardiovascular Innovation Institute (CII), a partnership between the University of Louisville and Jewish Hospital .

Ground has been broken on a new 170,000-sf research laboratory and office facility in St. Louis for the Center of Research, Technology and Entrepreneurial Exchange (CORTEX), a non-profit collaboration of Washington University, St. Louis University, The Barnes-Jewish Hospital Foundation, and the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Designed by HOK, the $36 million project incorporates sustainable design principles and will pursue LEEDTM  certification from the U.S.

Boston University Medical Center has received final approval from the Boston Redevelopment Authority for its 410,000-sf BioSquare Phase II project in Boston. Funded by a $128 million grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the project will include a BSL-4 research laboratory and a 1,400-space parking garage. The facility will be part of a national network of laboratories dedicated to countering bioterror agents by developing drugs, treatments, and vaccines.

The University of Notre Dame has selected The S/L/A/M Collaborative of Glastonbury, Conn., to design the 27,500-sf Nanotechnology Research Building on its Notre Dame, Ind., campus. Slated for completion in April 2006, the 2-story building will include a variety of lab spaces, offices, a conference room, and storage and support space. BVH Integrated Services of Bloomfield, Conn., will provide civil, mechanical, and electrical services.

The Linda Hall Library of Science, Engineering & Technology is planning to initiate construction of an $18.5-million expansion in February 2005. The 30,000-sf, three-story expansion will reach completion in 20 to 22 months. Bringing the library to a total of 220,000-sf, the project contains the library's collection and enables more common areas to be opened to patrons. The general contractor for the expansion is J.E. Dunn Construction Co.

Sam Houston State University has completed the design of the addition to the Farrington Science Building on its Huntsville, Texas, campus. The 61,740-sf addition will be constructed adjacent to the existing building and will accommodate the departments of Physics and Chemistry, as well as the newly created Forensics department. Designed by WHR, the facility will include a variety of classrooms, offices, basic science teaching labs and research laboratories for Chemistry, Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Forensic Pathology.

The University of Kentucky has selected the Cincinnati office of Lockwood Green Engineering & Construction to design the $12-million Center for Pharmaceutical Sciences & Technology. Sited in the Coldstream Research Park in Lexington, the 20,000-sf life sciences facility will serve as a clinical manufacturing site for sterile-fill products. The project will also house quality assurance/quality control facilities, a core cleanroom, and utilities.

Ground has been broken on the University of California at Berkeley 's $117.5 million, seven-story CITRIS (Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society) facility. The 140,000-sf building will include a large, secure computing center with massive storage capabilities on the two basement floors. The first above-ground floor will house classrooms, with reconfigurable laboratories on floors two through five.

The University of Alabama at Birmingham has initiated construction on the 101,000-sf, five-story UAB Research Support Building. Designed by CUH2A of Princeton, N.J, the $18.5 million project will accommodate research labs and offices. The general contractor is Doster Construction. The facility will open in July of 2005.

Texas Woman's University has awarded Vaughn Construction of Houston a $27.7-million contract to construct its new Houston campus at the Texas Medical Center. Construction is slated to begin on the 10-story, 202,000-sf TWU facility in early 2006. Housing conference and seminar rooms, video conferencing and distance learning facilities, several 120-seat lecture halls, and a 250-seat auditorium, the new campus will more than double the university's enrollment to approximately 3,000 students.

Webster University in St. Louis is planning to invest $15 million to construct two new residence halls. Completion is expected by fall of 2006. The first 64,400-sf freshman dormitory would house 198 beds. The second 35,400-sf upperclassmen dormitory would house 112 beds. The architect for the project is Mackey Mitchell & Associates.

On November 29, 2004, the California Public Library Construction and Renovation Board awarded public library construction grants for a total of $80,588,293 to 12 library projects. The three largest grants included $13,961,277 to the Castro Valley Library, $14,900,075 to the  Fontana Library & Resource Technology Center, and $11,880,531 to the Lafayette Library & Learning Center.

Construction on the George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center in Austin has reached completion. The newly expanded 30,000-sf museum features exhibit space, a new 140-seat theater, a darkroom, and library equipment storage areas. The project also included renovation and expansion of the adjacent Carver Public Library. The project contractor was Cadence McShane Corp. of Dallas.

The University of Louisville has received $10.25 million from a bill approved by the U.S. Senate to fund the construction of a 134,700-sf biomedical research building. The facility will be constructed on the university's health sciences campus. The funding is part of $28 million the university will receive to support research initiatives.

The Walt Disney Foundation is planning to convert a 44,000-sf brick building in San Francisco's Presidio to create a museum honoring Walt Disney. Construction is expected to begin in early 2005 with the museum opening in 2007. The museum, to be designed by Tanner Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects, will include an art gallery, an exhibit of Disney's personal items, and a research center.