Higher Education

Southwest Texas State University (SWT) is partnering with the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Texas Dallas and Rice University to create the Strategic Partnership for Nanotechnology (SPRING). The three schools plan to develop or update their nanotechnology facilities by securing funding from federal and private grants. SWT San Marcos is planning the Nanotechnology Failure Analysis, Materials, Evaluation and Education Center (NanoFAME).

Clayton County Public Schools are planning the Open Campus High School, a "high-tech high school" featuring the Magnet Technical Center. The new school will be built on the athletic training field at Jonesboro Middle School. The middle school will be renovated for the new high school. Slated to begin construction in 2004, the initial building, designed by Griffin, Ga.-based Manely Spangler Smith Architects P.C.,  is a 100,000-sf expandable facility that will house classes for students from eight other county high schools.

The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) is building a center for computer network security, the Center for Infrastructure Assurance and Security (CIAS). The CIAS will receive $5 million in federal funding in the next three years, which will move forward several projects including  development of lab facilities at UTSA's Loop 1604 campus and at Lackland AFB.  

The Robert F. Lucey Center for Technology and Training's dedication ceremony was recently celebrated at Dean College in Franklin. Created to provide regional employers with technology training solutions, the Center was designed by Cambridge-based Bruner Cott & Associates. 

The Medical University of South Carolina has awarded NBBJ Architects the architectural design contract for its Clinical Facilities master plan.

Kennesaw State University's Coles College of Business opened the Center for Professional Selling last fall after over two years of planning. Funded by $250,000 in corporate commitments, the Center is nearing completion and will include a conference room, state-of-the-art sales labs, and offices for student role-playing. Technologies will include training tools such as digital video cameras to capture practice sales pitches, which could be viewed by prospective employers on the Internet.

 North Carolina State University is planning a $65-million, 250-room hotel, conference center and golf course at its Centennial Campus to enhance research and academic programs at the University. The school has filed papers to form a charitable organization, the N.C. State Conference Center LLC, which would enable the center to operate free of state and federal income taxes. Hines Interests of Chicago is providing construction consultation on the project, which is slated for completion in the first quarter of 2004.

Emory University has opened the new $81.3-million Whitehead Biomedical Research Building, an eight-floor structure housing 150 faculty offices and 150 labs in an open-lab design equipped with advanced automated and robotic equipment for rapid DNA analysis. A below-ground 50,000-sf facility houses rodent research. The new 325,000-sf research building accommodates the Center for Medical Genomics, the Neurodegenerative Disease Center, and Emory’s departments of cell biology, and human genetics and physiology.

The Pennsylvania State University has selected Gilbane Building Company as program/construction manager for preconstruction services for five buildings on the State College campus. The new complex includes the Mary Jean and Frank P. Smeal College of Business Administration (210,000 sf); two new buildings for the College of Agricultural Sciences: the food science department (112,000 sf) and the School of Forest Resources (84,000 sf); a 1,200-car parking deck; and a 3,000-ton chiller.

The University of Kentucky has selected Gilman Building Co. of Columbus, Ohio, as construction manager for its new $67.2-million, 185,000-sf Biomedical/Biological Sciences Research Building. The new building, with four floors of research space and a basement, will serve as a facility for collaboration in research and graduate education in biological chemistry, genetics, molecular biology, neuroscience, vaccine development, host resistance, and related fields.

The Harvard Institutes of Medicine in collaboration with Lyme Properties LLC is proposing the construction of the Blackfan Research Center—a  400,000-sf biomedical research facility for academic research institutions in Boston’s Longwood Medical Area. The 18-story structure would accommodate 280,000 sf of lab space for research and 120,000 sf of office space, and provide below-ground parking for 300 vehicles. Pending permit approvals by the end of 2002, Lyme hopes to begin construction by mid-2003, with completion in 2005.

Ground has been broken on Guilford Technical Community College's 66,000-sf School of Entertainment Technology. Funded by state bond money, the $92.5 million building will include an amphitheater and sound studios.

Plainview, Texas-based Wayland Baptist University System is planning to add 319,000 sf of classroom and administrative space to its Wayland-San Antonio campus. The multimillion-dollar project will be housed on 26 acres of recently purchased land; with the additional acres, Wayland owns a total of 32.5 acres at the site. Construction on the five-building, 1,395-parking space development will probably not begin for another five years.

Andrews University broke ground in March 2002 for the new Howard Performing Arts Center. The $10.5-million, 44,000-sf building provides rehearsal, recording, and performance facilities for the University’s orchestra, symphony, and chorus as well as shelled space for WAUS radio station in the future. The Andrews University School of Music, community groups, and traveling performers will utilize the 230-person capacity stage. Audience seating will accommodate approximately 800 people. Architect and engineer for the project is HarleyEllis of Detroit. Fiskars of St.

Drexel University’s Bennett S. LeBow College of Business is expanding with the new Leonard Pearlstein Business Learning Center, now under construction. When it opens in fall of 2002, the $15-million structure will connect to LeBow’s main building, and will accommodate seminar rooms designed like boardrooms, offices, computer labs, and study rooms. Architect for the project is Philip Johnson.