Higher Education

Cranfield University completed construction in December of 2020 on the Digital Aviation Research and Technology Centre (DARTeC) in the United Kingdom. Designed by Burrell Foley Fischer, the £65 million complex provides technology-rich laboratory environments adjoining a live aerodrome with a hangar, a 737-400 aircraft, and a digital air traffic control center with next-generation radar systems. The innovative facility also includes open offices and a two-story atrium with integrated breakout areas to promote interaction and collaboration.

The University of Virginia is planning to construct the School of Data Science in Charlottesville. Designed by Hopkins Architects and VMDO, the four-story, 61,000-sf facility will feature four adaptive classrooms with integrated technologies to enhance learning and interaction. Illuminated by abundant natural light, the highly transparent structure will include a double-height venue for lectures and events, a collaborative central staircase, and faculty offices with operable windows for improved ventilation.

The University of California, Santa Barbara opened the $56 million Henley Hall in December of 2020. Housing the Institute for Energy Efficiency, the three-story, 50,280-gsf (29,292-asf) structure provides 17 research labs with a combination of wet and dry modalities, a 124-seat lecture hall, conference rooms, collaborative breakout areas, and faculty and administrative offices.

The University of Florida broke ground in December of 2020 on the $150 million Malachowsky Hall for Data Science & Information Technology in Gainesville. Designed by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, the 263,000-sf facility will be a dynamic research hub for the application of computing, communication, and cyber technologies to a broad spectrum of areas including health care, pharmacology, security, and fundamental science.

Stanford University dedicated the $210 million Biomedical Innovation Building in November of 2020 in Palo Alto, Calif. Designed by ZGF Architects with Research Facilities Design (RFD) as laboratory design consultant, the 190,439-gsf facility strategically collocates investigators with expertise in cardiovascular medicine, pediatrics, orthopaedics, immunotherapy, personalized genomics, otolaryngology, and asthma and allergy.

The University of Wisconsin-Platteville broke ground on the $55 million Sesquicentennial Hall in November of 2020. Designed by BWBR Architects, the 99,200-sf facility will provide collaborative research and learning environments for programs in engineering, computer science, and sustainable and renewable energy systems (SRES).

The University of Oregon dedicated the first phase of the Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact in December of 2020 in Eugene. Designed by Ennead Architects and Bora Architects to encourage interaction and collaboration, the $225 million, 160,000-sf building offers leading-edge biomedical laboratories, core facilities, classrooms, and an innovation center.

The University of Nevada, Las Vegas broke ground on the Medical Education Building in late October of 2020. Designed by TSK and CO Architects, the five-story, 135,000-gsf facility will be the first permanent structure for the School of Medicine. Funded by $155 million in philanthropic contributions, the project is being developed by Nevada Health and Bioscience Corporation through a public-private partnership.

Washington State University opened the $66 million Plant Sciences Building in Pullman in November of 2020. Designed by LMN Architects with Research Facilities Design (RFD) as laboratory design consultant, the 82,476-sf facility provides leading-edge research environments for programs in horticulture, plant biochemistry and pathology, and crop and soil science. Creating a new gateway to the V.

The University of California, Irvine began construction on a $134 million health sciences complex in October of 2020. Designed by The S/L/A/M Collaborative and HED, the project will enhance synergies between the disciplines of medicine, nursing, population health, and pharmacy to deliver a dynamic pedagogy of team-based care. Supporting an innovative curriculum based on integrative health, the complex is expected to be a national model for the future of interprofessional education.

Iowa State University broke ground in October of 2020 on the $75 million Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory (VDL) in Ames. Located on the campus of the College of Veterinary Medicine, the 72,540-sf structure will provide leading-edge labs and testing suites to enable the prevention, detection, and mitigation of animal diseases including avian influenza, African Swine Fever, and porcine epidemic diarrhea virus.

Carleton University began construction in November of 2020 on the CAD$16 million Engineering Design Centre in Ottawa. Enabling undergraduate students to engage in hands-on, experiential learning, the collaborative 25,000-sf facility will provide design studios, workshops bays, instructional venues, meeting rooms, and formal and informal interaction areas. A maker space on the ground floor will accommodate sophisticated equipment including 3D printers, injection molders, and laser and water jet cutters.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison opened the $57.1 million Meat Science and Animal Biologics Discovery Building in November of 2020. Designed by Potter Lawson, the 67,540-gsf facility provides the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences with leading-edge environments for research, teaching, and outreach. The two-story structure houses two technology-rich lecture halls, a shared research lab, an expansive atrium, demonstration areas, conference rooms, faculty offices, and a retail meat store.

The University of Massachusetts Medical School is planning to construct the $325 million New Education and Research Building in Worcester. Accommodating 77 principal investigators, the nine-story, 350,000-sf facility will include space for animal research as well as housing an FDA-compliant manufacturing center for clinical trial therapeutics. The project will enable UMass to increase its class sizes help meet the needs of the commonwealth and the nation for physicians, graduate nurses, life sciences researchers, and other health sciences professionals.

Florida Institute of Technology broke ground in October of 2020 on the $18 million Health Sciences Research Center in Melbourne, Fla. Enabling the university to expand its biomedical engineering and premedical programs, the 61,000-sf facility will feature a sophisticated anatomy lab with virtual dissection tables, an imaging suite with florescent and laser scanning microscopes, and labs for orthopedic research, tissue engineering, and computer modeling and simulation.