Higher Education

Washington University broke ground in early October 2000 on the university's Uncas A. Whitaker Hall for Biomedical Engineering building, designed by Boston-based architects Shepley Bulfinch Richardson and Abbott. The new three-story facility will include a flexible laboratory wing comprised of 22,000 sf of wet lab space and 12,500 sf of procedure equipment and environmental areas (which will include a nanofabrication lab, vivarium, electron microscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance suites). A three-story atrium will connect the laboratory wing with faculty office pods and classrooms.

Fujitsu Laboratories plans to work with its subsidiary, Fujitsu Laboratories America, in Sunnyvale, Calif., and the University of Maryland in College Park, to create a $3.5-million research institute devoted to advanced computer technology. Beginning in April 2001, the institute will study bioinformatics, network security, wireless computing, and the impact of pervasive computing. Fujitsu anticipates a $10-million budget and a staff of 40 by 2004.

University of Delaware has selected The Lighting Practice of Philadelphia to create the lighting for two renovated buildings plus a new addition on the University’s Newark campus. The 95,000-sf Wolf Hall and McKinly Hall will be thoroughly upgraded and renovated. The Biology Department for postgraduate studies and research and the Psychology Department, which serves both undergraduates and postgraduates, occupy both halls. A new 10,000-sf addition to Wolf Hall will complete the complex.

Tufts University's Dowling Hall received an Excellence in Construction award from the Massachusetts Chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors for work done by the design-builder, Newton, Mass.-based Kay Construction and Cambridge-based architectural firm, ADD Inc. The student services center and the campus safety office are housed in the seven-story, 210,000-sf building. A 152-ft glycol-heated bridge links the building with the university's upper campus.

The University of California-San Diego (UCSD) will work with the Salk Institute to construct the West Coast's largest interdisciplinary brain-imaging research facility. Construction began in November 2000 on the $13.5 million, 6,500-sf structure next to UCSD's School of Medicine. Four functional magnetic resonance imaging machines'two for human studies and two for animals'will be housed in the new structure which is scheduled for completion in October 2001.The building was designed by RBB Architects Inc. of Los Angeles. San Diego-based Soltek Pacific is the general contractor.

The University of Houston has plans for a $45 million expansion and renovation of the M.D. Anderson Library, scheduled to start in late 2001. The architect for the project is Shepley Bulfinch Richardson and Abbott in association with Houston-based Morris Architects.

University of North Texas Health Science Center has plans for a $40 million, 180,000-sf incubator for biotech and pharmaceutical companies. The initial building would be shared with the center's School of Public Health, which is in need of additional space for classrooms, faculty, and computer labs. The plan for the incubator includes production facilities, labs, equipment, and opportunities to collaborate with the researchers. Depending on the growth of the incubator, a second 200,000-sf structure may be constructed exclusively for the biotech center.

Northwestern University has awarded the Chicago office of Turner Construction Company a $25.9 million contract for the construction of the 86,0000-sf Center for Nanofabrication and Molecular Self-Assembly. The new, four-story plus basement chemistry lab building will house 16 labs, faculty and graduate student offices, conference rooms, and support spaces. The project scope includes laboratory casework, fume hoods, lab equipment, and extensive M/E/P systems and temperature controls required to support the lab environments. Turner is the construction manager on the project.

Delaware County Community College has begun construction on a new 82-acre campus at the site of the old Downingtown Agricultural and Industrial School. The campus is planned to accommodate more than 1,500 students. Two existing buildings at the site will be renovated during the first two phases of the four-phase project. Demolition of other existing buildings plus new construction of 45,000 sf are scheduled for completion by January 2002. A date has not been set for phases three and four.

Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences' new urban campus has been completed in eight months' time. Construction began in October 1999 when Payton Construction Corp. of Boston began the transformation of a historic five-story, 56,000-sf structure plus construction of a new 5,000-sf addition. The college, which offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in several health care disciplines, will accommodate 400 students and 50 faculty and staff in classrooms, labs, auditoriums, a libarary, and academic and administrative offices.

University of California-Davis has awarded McCarthy a $46 million contract to build a new Center for the Arts that will provide a premier concert hall on the campus. When completed, the 106,000-sf facility will be a multi-level performance hall seating 1,800 with a studio theater seating 250. McCarthy will act as contractor for the project.The architect is Boora Architects of Portland, Ore.

Trinity College of Washington, D.C., broke ground in early November 2000 on a 62,000-sf Trinity Center for Women & Girls in Sports. The $20 million sports complex will include a gym, swimming pool, locker rooms, fitness center, dance and aerobics studio, multipurpose space, and athletic offices. The sports facility, the largest in the country dedicated specifically for women and girls in sports, was designed by Geier, Brown & Renfrow Architects and The Hughes Group. Completion is scheduled for 2002.

Washington University broke ground in early October 2000 on the university's Uncas A. Whitaker Hall for Biomedical Engineering building, designed by Boston-based architects Shepley Bulfinch Richardson and Abbott. The new three-story facility will include a flexible laboratory wing comprised of 22,000 sf of wet lab space and 12,500 sf of procedure equipment and environmental areas (which will include a nanofabrication lab, vivarium, electron microscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance suites). A three-story atrium will connect the laboratory wing with faculty office pods and classrooms.

Ida Price Middle School and Orchard Middle School in San Jose have worked with Saramark Inc., a San Jose construction company, to upgrade their science classrooms. To ensure state approval, Saramark adhered closely to the California Department of Architecture's standards and regulations for classrooms, school labs, seismic retrofitting, storage of chemicals, ventilation, and plumbing.

University of California-San Diego (UCSD) and the University of California-Irvine (UCI) have received funding to launch the California Institute of Telecommunications and Information Technology, dubbed Cal-(IT)2, an interdisciplinary center to research telecommunications and information technology. The $300 million project will build a 215,000-sf at UCSD and a smaller facility at UCI. Construction of the UCSD building is scheduled for completion in 2004.