Higher Education

Miami University is planning the construction of the $5 million Voice of America Learning Center in West Chester Township, Ohio. The latest design describes a conference center, five classrooms, two computer labs, and a 120-seat auditorium. Accommodating 75 courses per week, the facility is expandable to an additional 10,000 sf. A wireless network linked directly to the Butler County fiber-optic loop will enable instructors to brief students from remote locations.

Washington University in St. Louis will complete its new 148,000-sf Earth and Planetary Science Building in early fall of 2004. Designed by Tsoi/Kobus & Associates, the $33-million, four-story building will house the disciplines of chemistry, geology, physics, dynamics, and planetary science including the McDonnell Center for Space Sciences and the Geosciences Node of the NASA Planetary Data System.

The New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology is planning a $1.5 million addition to its state-of-the-art seismology research facility, the IRIS/PASSCAL Instrument Center in Socorro, N.M. The 11,000-sf addition will house a newly established geophysics program with 20 geophysicists, engineers, and graduate research students engaged in the study of earthquakes. The project contractor is ESA Construction of Albuquerque. The facility is one of 14 New Mexico Tech construction projects slated for completion by summer of 2005.

Portland State University (PSU) will initiate a $3.1-million seismic upgrade and earthquake mitigation project to the two dormitories, Ondine Residence Hall and Montgomery Court, on its Portland, Ore., campus. The project is funded by $2.3 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and $780,000 in matching funds from the state. PSU was granted the funds due to the facilities' high occupancy rate, susceptibility to earthquake damage, the existence of the Portland Hills fault, and damage incurred in the 1993 Scotts Mill earthquake.

Ohio State University is engaged in a major expansion of its cancer program that could total $400 million in construction projects over the next ten years. Doubling the capacity of the Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and the Richard J. Solove Research Institute, the project will include 725,000 sf to 785,000 sf of new development and 170,000 sf to 190,000 sf of renovation on the University's Columbus campus. Site selection will occur in the next 12 to 18 months. A search for proposals from architectural, engineering, and construction management firms is under way.

The San Mateo Community College District has selected sports-related engineering contractor CMX of Phoenix to lead the design team for athletic upgrades at three of its California colleges. The $15 million design-build project involves running tracks, upgraded football and soccer fields, track infield areas, tennis courts, baseball fields, improved seating areas, storage structures and press-boxes at College of San Mateo, Skyline College, and Canada College. Robert A. Bothman Inc. of San Jose is the project contractor.

The Lone Star Girl Scout Council is constructing a new $8-million headquarters and technology center in north Austin, Texas. Designed by Wiginton Hooker Jeffry Architects of Dallas, the 20,000-sf facility will be constructed by the Austin office of Dallas-based general contractor Constructors and Associates Inc. Ground was broken in March of 2004. The current Girl Scouts headquarters is comprised of 6,000-sf.  

The State University of New York at Buffalo Division of Athletics is engaged in a $1-million upgrade to its Alumni Arena. The project includes new chair-back seating on each side of the basketball court, end-zone bleacher seating, and a renovation of department offices.  

The State of Texas and International Sematech are launching the Advanced Materials Research Center (AMRC) with the University of Texas and other Texas universities. Located in Austin, the semiconductor research consortium will accelerate the commercialization of critical technology research. Funding in the amount of $40 million will be provided by the newly formed Texas Enterprise Fund; the remaining $160 million will be funded from various sources over the next four years.

Washington State University (WSU) is planning the seven-building Research and Education Complex on its Pullman campus. Each building will accommodate approximately 100,000 sf. Building 1, a $39 million addition to the existing Johnson Hall, will house bioscience research and is expected to reach completion in June 2005. Building 2, the $62-million Biotechnology/Life Sciences Facility, will include a vivarium.

Western Washington University (WWU) is developing the 131,000-sf Communications Building on its Bellingham campus in a single phase. The four-story, $36.4-million project will be comprised of three above-ground floors and one basement level and will house the departments of journalism, communications, physics, and computer science departments.

East Carolina University broke ground in March 2004 on a $60-million facility that will house the School of Nursing, the School of Allied Health Sciences, and the Health Sciences Medical Library. Designed by Walter Robbs Callahan & Pierce of Winston-Salem, N.C., the 290,000-sf building is located in the University’s Health Services Learning Village in Greenville, N.C. The facility will accommodate 2,170 graduate and undergraduate students.

The University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Wash., is planning a 155,000-sf Science Center to house the school’s biology, chemistry, geology, mathematics, physics, and computer sciences departments. The 122,000-sf Thompson Hall will also be renovated and a 35,000-sf addition constructed. The total project budget is $34.5 million. Construction is expected to begin within 12 months. Research Facilities Design is the laboratory building design consultant.

The University of Washington (UW) is building the 280,000-sf Bioengineering and Genomic Sciences Building in Seattle. The project houses research space for the UW School of Medicine and its Department of Genome Sciences, as well as the Department of Bioengineering. Ground will be broken in August 2004 with completion slated for 2005.

The University of Houston will complete the $76-million Science and Engineering Research and Classroom Complex in spring of 2006. Designed by Cesar Pelli, the facility will enable collaboration between researchers from the Cullen College of Engineering and the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. The complex will accommodate research in biotechnology, nano-lithography, DNA chips, protein chips, materials, optoelectronics, synthetic medicinal chemistry, and drug design.