Higher Education

Portland Community College is building the 46,000-sf Technology Classroom Building on its Sylvania, Ore., campus. Slated to open in fall 2004, the $8-million facility will house space for eleven classrooms, computer labs, software engineering, information technology programs, recording studios, media production facilities, faculty offices, and the district center for the Distance Education program. Designed by Opsis Architecture of Portland and built by Skanska USA, the facility incorporates sustainable design features to reduce energy use and promote occupant health.

California State University Sacramento has received a gift of over 280 acres in south Placer County, the proposed site for the university’s Placer campus. Groundbreaking on the new campus could occur as early as spring 2006.

The Pennsylvania College of Optometry is planning a new Student Community Center to be constructed at the Elkins Park Campus. Granary Associates of Philadelphia has been selected to provide architecture and interior design services. The Center will house state-of-the-art fitness and recreation facilities and provide a center for student life on campus. It will also serve as a meeting place for continuing education classes and alumni functions.

The University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis opened the first phase of the Hamilton Eye Institute in early May 2004. The project includes ten research laboratories and a technologically advanced administrative suite equipped to provide telemedicine service. The facility will encompass 60,000-sf when it reaches completion in 2005. The final construction phase will create clinical facilities on the second, third, and fourth floors.

A new diagnostic biotech facility will be constructed on 100 acres south of the Texas Medical Center. The $80-million facility will be funded by $25 million from the Texas Enterprise Fund, $25 million each from the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and the University of Texas Health Science Center, and $5 million from the University of Texas System.

The Medical College of Georgia (MCG) has completed construction of the Interdisciplinary Research Building (IRB) Phase II, a 94,000-sf expansion project. Designed by Lord, Aeck & Sargent of Atlanta, the $27.3-million, five-story project includes a mechanical penthouse and a life sciences incubator for developing biotech business from scientific discoveries. The facility provides research laboratory and office space for the MCG Department of Physiology, the Center for Biology and Genomic Medicine, and the Office of Technology Transfer and Economic Development.

North Carolina Central University will receive $200,000 in federal funds toward the construction of the Biomanufacturing Research Institute and Training Enterprise facility on the university’s Durham campus.

Wake Forest University’s Babcock Graduate School of Management is planning to open a 30,000-sf campus in Charlotte. The project will be sited in a new development owned by Wachovia Corp. and will include a 1,200-seat performing arts center.

Oregon State University has selected Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership (ZGF) to design a new 115,000-sf state-of-the-art facility for the College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences (COAS) in Portland, Ore. The interdisciplinary laboratory and teaching facility will incorporate sustainable design to meet a LEED™ Silver certification. ZGF has offices in Portland, Seattle, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C.

Clark College is planning to construct a $30-million satellite campus in the Columbia Tech Center in Vancouver, Wash. The 68,542-sf facility will accommodate general education courses, professional and technical training, and workforce development. Building design and construction costs are estimated at $30.5 million. The new east county campus will attract and serve high-tech businesses, and will serve 1,055 full-time students annually.

Arizona State University (ASU) has selected architect SmithGroup and contractor DPR Construction as the project team for the first building on the university’s biomedical campus in Phoenix. The 90,000-sf to 100,000-sf facility will have four to five floors and is expected to begin construction later in 2004 and reach completion in 18 months.

Southern Methodist University ’s Dedman School of Law is refurbishing the first floor of Carr P. Collins Jr. Hall. in Dallas. Funded by a $1-million contribution from Dallas law firm Godwin Gruber LLP, the floor will be renamed the Godwin Gruber Lawyers Inn. Housing a student and faculty dining hall and lounge area, the project is expected to begin in summer 2004 and reach completion during the fall. Previously dubbed Lawyers Inn, Collins Hall previously housed a dining room and meeting space, with residential upper floors.

The University of Oregon is planning to begin construction on a nanoscience and microtechnology research facility adjacent to its Eugene campus in the next two years. Sited on 3.75 acres in the Riverfront Research Park, the facility may be as large as 60,000-sf.

Oregon State University is planning a technology research park on 52 acres near its Corvalis, Ore., campus. The RFP process is expected to reach completion by year-end 2004, with the first building opening in July of 2006. Comprised of as many as three anchor buildings housing multiple companies, the project will also house laboratory and office space. Targeted industries include bioscience and health, mixed signal processing, and pharmaceuticals. The first multiclient building will be between 40,000 sf and 85,000 sf.