Higher Education

Oregon State University is planning to construct the $213 million Jen-Hsun and Lori Huang Collaborative Innovation Complex in Corvallis. Featuring a state-of-the-art NVIDIA supercomputer, the 145,000-sf facility will accommodate team-based research programs in semiconductors, materials science, artificial intelligence, and robotics. These next-generation technologies will provide new solutions to global challenges in climate science, oceanography, and water resources.

Many college graduates remember, with varying degrees of fondness, the spartan cinder-block dorms of their youth. Today, when most universities are competing for students, the pressure is on to add amenities like e-sports rooms, private bathrooms, and walk-in closets. How can an institution stay competitive while still keeping costs down? The secrets include thorough planning and canny management of contingency.

Missouri University of Science and Technology will begin construction in late summer of 2023 on a $53.4 million manufacturing innovation hub in Rolla. Designed by Perkins&Will and Mackey Mitchell Architects, the Missouri Protoplex will be the headquarters of a statewide ecosystem where experts, innovators, business owners, and educators develop new production methods and technologies.

Colorado State University opened the 122,000-sf Hydro building in Denver in January of 2023. Located on the Spur campus, this dynamic nexus of water research and innovation will catalyze the discovery of new solutions to pressing environmental challenges. Hord Coplan Macht and SmithGroup designed the interdisciplinary structure, which houses the Western Water Policy Institute, the Salazar Center for North American Conservation, and a 1,900-sf testing lab for Denver Water.

The University of British Columbia began construction in December of 2022 on the CAD$180 million Gateway Building in Vancouver. Designed by Perkins&Will and Schmidt Hammer Lassen, the 267,000-sf project will offer sophisticated facilities for interprofessional education including wet and dry labs, high-fidelity simulation suites, flexible classrooms, and four large lecture halls.

Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in Pittsburgh is working in partnership with San Francisco-based Emerald Cloud Lab on a new $40 million facility that will house more than 200 discrete life science and chemistry research instruments, but very few human researchers, teachers, or students. Instead, the instruments and artificial intelligence tools within the new CMU Cloud Lab can be accessed remotely via the cloud from anywhere in the world to conduct experiments at any time of the day or night. The new 16,000-sf Cloud Lab will be housed in a CMU-owned building in Pittsburgh’s Bakery Square, 10 minutes from the main campus. Construction is scheduled to conclude by May 2023 and to be fully operational by the fall 2023 semester.  

The University of Texas at San Antonio opened the $91.8 million San Pedro I building in January of 2023. Designed by Jacobs and Overland Partners, the six-story, 167,000-sf structure provides the School of Data Science with 84,000 sf of classrooms, labs, and offices for the departments of computer science, computer engineering, information systems and cybersecurity, and statistics and data sciences.

The University of Michigan has transformed the way science is conducted and communicated by integrating the Museum of Natural History into its uniquely designed $261 million Biological Sciences Building (BSB). The 312,000-sf building opened for classes in 2018, and the museum opened a year later, facilitating connections between university researchers and the community. More than 200,000 members of the public visited the museum within the first year, underscoring the university’s belief that science is a social, not merely transactional, interaction.

Galveston College is constructing the $34 million Health Sciences Education Center to provide leading-edge facilities for its nursing and allied health programs. Designed by PBK Architects, the 64,000-sf building will include sophisticated classrooms, interactive lecture halls, teaching labs, simulation suites, faculty offices, and study spaces.

New York University dedicated the $1 billion John A. Paulson Center in January of 2023. Designed by Davis Brody Bond and KieranTimberlake, the 735,000-sf complex integrates academic, athletic, artistic, and residential functions in a vibrant nexus for learning and discovery. Comprising three towers rising from a full-block podium, the 23-story building houses 58 classrooms, a 350-seat proscenium theater, an orchestral rehearsal hall and practice rooms, and numerous music and performing arts studios.

2022 offered a glimpse of what the post-pandemic era might look like, with a redefinition of “workplace” in a hybrid setting; examining the benefits and challenges of renovation vs. new construction; and using data to drive complex facilities decisions. The following are the reports that Tradeline readers found most helpful in 2022, as they focused on strategic space planning in this shifting environment:

Marquette University completed construction in December of 2022 on the $60 million O'Brien Hall in Milwaukee. Designed by BNIM and Workshop Architects, the four-story, 100,000-sf facility provides the College of Business Administration with open and transparent environments for experiential learning. Featuring collaborative classrooms and laboratories, the technology-enabled structure includes an expansive atrium, a pitch stage, a multipurpose event venue, study spaces, a café, and office suites for departmental leadership.

Cal State East Bay broke ground in December of 2022 on the $30 million Applied Sciences Center in Hayward, Calif. Designed by SmithGroup, the 22,165-sf facility will provide flexible classrooms for active learning, a technology innovation hub, and interdisciplinary research space for programs in computer science and engineering. Open-concept laboratories will allow multiple student and faculty teams to engage in collaborative discovery.

Boston University opened the $305 million Center for Computing & Data Sciences in December of 2022. KPMB Architects designed the iconic facility, which provides learning labs, classrooms, research venues, meeting spaces, administrative offices, and a business incubator. Located on the Charles River Campus, the 19-story structure comprises a four-story podium topped by 13 floors, with MEP systems located on additional basement and penthouse levels.

The University of New England broke ground in late November of 2022 on the $93 million Harold and Bibby Alfond Center for Health Sciences in Portland, Maine. Collocating the College of Osteopathic Medicine and the Institute for Inter-Professional Education, the 109,000-sf structure will address a state-wide shortage of physicians while accommodating allied health programs in nursing, pharmacy, dentistry, physician assistance, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and social work.