Higher Education

Wingate University, a private North Carolina university, is engaged in several expansion and renovation projects. The Cannon academic building has been upfitted with labs, study rooms, a drug information center, lecture halls, and a student lounge. It will house the new Wingate University School of Pharmacy. The upstairs of the football field house is being converted to office and meeting rooms; completion is expected in August 2003. Renovations to Faculty Drive apartments will be completed this July.

Oregon Health & Science University has received $2.5-million of federal research funding to establish a National Center for Research on Bioterrorism Agents in Portland, Ore. Studying issues important to combating bioterrorism, the center will accommodate over 20 OHSU faculty members focused on disease research. A comprehensive database of pathogens will be developed to create more effective methods of vaccination against a bioterrorist attack.

Queens University of Charlotte, N.C., is planning to construct a $12-million, multi-sport athletic complex on 59 acres at Marion Diehl Park. The facilities will include soccer, baseball, lacrosse, and softball fields, a field house, trails, and track and tennis facilities. The complex will become the home of 11 of  Queens’ 16 varsity sports.

The University of California, Davis, has completed the new 24,000-sf BSL3-AG Contained Research Facility, an agricultural facility focused on plant and entomological sciences. Designed by Anshen+Allen, it provides a highly secure, biologically contained environment and is the first of its kind in the United States. A “hoteling” concept provides researcher space to accommodate partnerships with universities and research foundations from around the world.

Arizona State University is constructing Phase I of the Arizona Biodesign Institute (AzBiodesign). Architectural firms Gould Evans and Lord, Aeck & Sargent planned, designed, and are now overseeing construction for the facility, which will house interdisciplinary research in biotechnology, information technology, and nanotechnology. The first 172,000-sf, $69-million phase of AzBiodesign will feature a flexible open lab concept allowing for rapid module reconfiguration to respond to the changing nature of research programs.

The Oregon Health & Science University is planning phase one of the institute’s development in North Macadam, Ore. Site work has already begun for the first 360,000-sf building.  The project is estimated to cost $108-million.

Jacksonville University will build a new $1-million, 10,000-sf Navy ROTC facility on its Jacksonville, Fla., Campus. Housing classrooms, offices, study space, multimedia equipment, simulation equipment, and fitness and training facilities, the project will replace an existing 30-year-old facility.

Mesa College has completed construction of the new 45,748-sf Humanities, Languages, and Multicultural Studies building on its Linda Vista campus. Designed by Architects Delawie Wilkes Rodriques Barker, the $7.4-million project was built by Kvaas Constructors.

BaylorUniversity has selected McCarthy to develop its new 360,000-sf design/build parking structure. The $9.9-million project is McCarthy’s second for Baylor and will extend the Waco campus’ eastern boundary. The 1,170-car, four-level facility will break ground in August 2003 and is slated for completion in August 2004. The architectural and engineering firm for the east campus parking facility is Carl Walker, Inc. of Dallas.  

The University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute is working with the National Institute of Standards & Technology to develop a planned expansion of the Center for Advanced Research in Biotechnology called CARB II. The 140,000-sf, $38-million project will host new laboratories, core facilities, and training programs for the biotech work force and will cost $50-million to build. CARB I is an 88,000-sf building sited on six acres at the Shady Grove Life Sciences Center in Rockville, Md.

The University of California Merced is working with contractor McCarthy to construct a 92,000-sf classroom and office building, one of the first three academic buildings scheduled to open in 2004. The first American research university to be built in the 21st century, the school is being built with the latest sustainable techniques to attain a campus-wide silver certification in LEED building standards through the U.S. Green Building Council. To achieve certification, the project will maximize the use of low-emitting and recycled materials and local/regional resources during construction.

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics will develop its new $6-million headquarters on 6.4 acres in Cedar Creek Corporate Park in Olathe, Mo. The architect for the 35,000-sf facility is DLR Group of Overland Park, with Ambassador Construction of Olathe as general contractor. 

The Universityof Maryland, Baltimore is planning the 750,000-sf Health Sciences Research Park in West Baltimore. The park will be comprised of as many as six new research buildings, the first of which will total between 80,000 sf and 120,000 sf and cost between $15- and $20-million. Completion is slated for December 2004.

Agnes Scott College contracted achitectural firm Shepley Bulfinch Richardson & Abbott to design its new $36.5-million Science Center in Decatur, Ga. The 104,000-sf facility contains classrooms, laboratories, faculty offices, and a science reading room. Research Facilities Design was selected to provide laboratory design services.

The University of Maryland-Baltimore’s planned Biomedical Research Park in West Baltimore has received $4 million to assist startup companies from the state’s Sunny Day Fund. The funding will enable young companies to make needed office and lab improvements.