Higher Education

The University of Texas-San Antonio has plans to build a $6.25 million, 30,000-sf facility to permanently house the university's Institute for Economic Development at its Downtown Campus.

The University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute (UMBI) plans to expand the Center for Advanced Research in Biotechnology (CARB) with CARB II at the university's Shady Grove campus. Most of the $38 million, 140,000-sf four-story building will house research labs, including facilities for both plant core transformation and insect transformation. The structure will also accommodate a 5,000-sf UMBI staff office, and a teaching lab for bioprocess engineering.

The Medical College of Virginia Hospital has selected Boston-based Shepley Bulfinch Richardson and Abbott working with Baskervill & Son of Richmond to design a 229,000-sf, 10-level gateway building to serve as the new "front door" for the campus. The project will create continuity between various medical specialties, enhanceing the deliveryof patient care.

North Carolina State University has selected the Raleigh office of Flad & Associates to complete a master plan for the university's College of Veterinary Medicine. Flad will verify space needs, future growth projections, and analyze current site conditions. The cornerstone of the campus' future development will be a new laboratory building designed by Flad.

Brown University's new 17,000-sf two-level Engineering and Physics Addition has been completed by the George B.H. Macomber Company of Boston. The addition unites the existing 1960s complex and provides cutting-edge labs and teaching spaces. The new structure, designed by Payette Associates of Boston, provides space for digital imaging; rapid prototyping; computing; and electronic, mechanical, electrical, civil, and bioengineering labs.

Princeton University has contracted with R.M. Shoemaker Co. of West Conshohocken, Pa., to provide preconstruction services for their new 200-bed, 88,000-sf upper-class dormitory. The facility will include paired singles with semi-private bath, four-room four-person suites with bath, and single rooms with common bathrooms along a corridor. In addition, a variety of study rooms, lounge, and laundry facilities are to be provided on each floor, including a central lounge with kitchen and dining area.

Drexel University’s new Laurence A. Baiada Center for Entrepreneurship in Technology, scheduled to open in fall 2001, is being designed by IA/Interspace. The center will house a cybercafe and a multi-purpose presentation room for student presentations of business plans to potential investors. Drexel has contracted with the Port of Technology in nearby University City to run the Baiada Center.

Pennsylvania State University is considering approximately $140 million in projects at the University City campus. A $31 million parking garage is planned, and a medical facility shared with The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia is under consideration. The medical complex would combine ambulatory services, cancer care, and research space.

Independence Park Institute, a $10 million educational building designed by Kallman, McKinnell and Wood Architects, will house interactive educational space for student visitors to Independence Mall each year. The building is as yet unfunded, but construction is scheduled to begin in December 2001, with completion in 2002. Construction at other Independence Mall sites includes the $12 million Liberty Bell Pavilion, the $40 million Visitors Center, and the $130 million National Constitution Center?all scheduled to open beginning fall 2001 through 2003.

The Mount Sinai School of Medicine has selected Tsoi/Kobus & Associates to assist in redesigning its medical education facilities within an existing tower. The new facilities will consolidate approximately 120,000 sf of existing teaching, library, and administrative space, using centralized information technology and media services. The Morchand Center for Clinical Competence will be expanded, and a new Minimally Invasive Surgery Education Center will be established.

The University of Notre Dame has chosen The S/L/A/M Collaborative to design a new 200,000-sf undergraduate science teaching building. The project is the implementation of the first phase of the College of Science master plan and will provide state-of-the-art teaching labs and support space for the departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Biological Sciences, and Physics. Research Facilities Design is the laboratory building design consultant.

Central College's Vermeer Science Center renovation and addition design has been completed by Holabird & Root. The Center will house classroom, laboratory, and office space for the disciplines of Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Pre-Engineering, Environmental Studies, Mathematics, and Computer Science. A new greenhouse, museum display areas, and a special collections science library and reading room are also new spaces. The Center includes a 40,000-gsf wrap-around expansion to the 30,000-gsf existing facility.

Drexel University has expansion plans -- a new $30 million, 150,000-sf research facility, and, at the LeBow College of Business, a new $8 million, 40,000-sf structure. Over the last four years, the university has also built two residence halls -- the $22 million, 171,000-sf North Hall, and the $15 million, 109,000-sf East Hall

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's new medical research building, designed by Lord Aeck & Sargent of Atlanta, will have a nontraditional design, placing desks near windows to take advantage of natural light, and using interior walls for utilities. Newcomb & Boyd of Atlanta is providing mechanical and electrical engineering for the new structure, ensuring ready access to the utilities in the building.

The University of California, San Francisco’s new 43-acre research campus at Mission Bay is under construction. Phase one includes a 385,000-sf research building; a 165,000-sf center for human genetics, developmental biology, and developmental neuroscience; and a campus community center sporting food courts, a health club and pool, and a library—all scheduled to open by 2003. The developer of the huge project is Catellus.