Higher Education

Virginia Tech is planning to break ground in fall of 2021 on the first academic building on its Innovation Campus in Alexandria. Designed by SmithGroup, the 300,000-gsf facility will offer experiential learning environments, maker spaces, flexible multipurpose venues, and research and testing labs for the school's graduate programs in computer science and engineering. The sustainably designed structure will feature a façade with integrated photovoltaic panels, a rooftop solar array, and geothermal and sewage water energy exchange technologies.

Ohio University is constructing the $65 million Heritage Hall in Athens. Designed by Perkins+Will and DesignGroup, the three-story, 120,000-sf building will provide the Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine (HCOM) with flexible environments for team-based learning to support the school's groundbreaking Pathways to Health and Wellness curriculum.

Price Industries is significantly increasing production of its air filtration systems in response to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Instantly creating a negative-pressure isolation room, the company's fan filter unit can draw airborne virus out through a biosafety filter for expulsion through the building's exhaust vent or directly to the outside. The units can dramatically reduce airborne virus in healthcare environments such as nursing stations and temporary hospitals, and can even be used in hotel rooms that have been repurposed as care facilities.

The International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) has assembled a task force to address the role of the built environment in reducing the impact of SARS-CoV-2 and other respiratory infections. Aiming to define the critical role that buildings, organizations, and communities play in infectious disease management, the work will take a broad approach in considering both new and recurring agents that can affect large populations.

Blinn College is planning to build the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Innovation Building on the RELLIS campus in Brenham, Texas. Designed by PBK Architects to accommodate programs in engineering, chemistry, physics, microbiology, geology, and health sciences, the 72,000-sf structure will offer 17,000 sf of laboratory space and a 3,000-sf innovation hub.

Science programs face the same pressures everywhere—a need for tech-enabled classrooms, demand for doing more with less space, emphasis on flexible research space, and practical considerations pushing departments to share resources and work together. At tiny Ursinus College in Pennsylvania, a new science building is meeting these challenges by physically connecting departments and expanding non-program spaces.

An untold number of construction projects have put on hold as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, but that doesn’t mean all work has to stop. In fact, owners should focus on preparing those projects to resume the moment it is safe to return to the job site. “The best thing for an owner to do is get these projects shovel-ready so they will be in the driver’s seat,” says James Vermeulen, managing principal of Vermeulens. “Whether the project can start construction or is delayed, it is important to be in the driver’s seat. If there’s a schedule slip, you can have an even better set of 100 percent construction-ready documents.”

Vanguard University opened the $24 million Waugh Student Center in April of 2020 in Costa Mesa, Calif. Designed by HPI Architecture, the two-story, 42,687-gsf project includes a 35,000-sf structure with a 7,500-sf exterior deck for studying, dining, and socializing. The welcoming campus hub houses a 3,300-sf food service area, an 8,000-sf dining commons, a 3,000-sf fitness center, and a student lounge with a fireplace.

The University of Nevada, Reno is renovating the Leifson Physics and Chemistry Buildings to provide leading-edge research labs, classrooms, collaboration rooms, conference areas, and office environments. Designed by Van Woert Bigotti Architects, the $23 million project will optimize utilization in the two structures, which were built in 1967, to provide additional programmatic space including 839 asf for physics and 1,779 asf for chemistry.

The University of Glasgow is planning to construct an £86 million facility for the Adam Smith Business School and the university's postgraduate-taught community (PGT) in the United Kingdom. Designed by Hassell to promote cross-pollination with industry and government stakeholders, the 125,000-sf building will be arranged in three interconnected stacks for teaching, research, and collaboration.

The Ohio State University and Central Ohio Technical College are constructing the $32 million John and Mary Alford Center for Science and Technology. Located on OSU's Newark campus, the 60,000-sf STEM building will allow both institutions to expand academic programming, increase enrollment, enhance student success, and better meet local workforce needs.

Gustavus Adolphus College is planning a $60 million expansion and renovation of Lund Center in St. Peter, Minn. Enhancing recruiting opportunities for student athletes and fostering increased general enrollment, the project will add 160,000 sf of additional training and instructional space to the wellness and athletic facility. An academic wing will accommodate sophisticated classrooms, faculty offices, a 120-seat lecture hall, and a new home for the Human Performance Lab.

VACUUBRAND is offering continuing education courses approved by the American Institute of Architects and Green Business Certification Inc. Providing engineers and designers with the skills to create sustainable, high-performance laboratories, each course is available as a general webinar, a private webinar, or as an on-demand learning experience. AIA members will receive one LU/HSW (Health-Safety-Welfare learning unit) for each one-hour course.

Purdue University is building the $64 million Chaney-Hale Hall of Science in West Lafayette, Ind. Accommodating STEM programs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, the collaborative 111,000-sf facility will provide 33 multidisciplinary laboratory classrooms for courses in general and organic chemistry, biochemistry, general biology, microbiology, cellular and molecular biology, and anatomy and physiology. Undergraduate science teaching labs will be collocated, launching novel opportunities for new, integrated curricula.

ASHRAE, the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, has created an epidemic task force to respond to the global SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and provide guidance on how to ensure that buildings are prepared for current and future epidemics. The ASHRAE Epidemic Task Force has been established to deploy ASHRAE’s technical resources to address the impact of HVAC systems on disease transmission in healthcare facilities, workplaces, homes, public spaces, and recreational environments.