Higher Education

The Universities at Shady Grove opened the $175 million Biomedical Sciences and Engineering Education Facility in November of 2019 in Rockville, Md. Supporting programs in engineering, biotechnology, cybersecurity, and healthcare, the collaborative 228,805-gsf building houses 10 teaching labs, 12 active learning classrooms, two 120-seat lecture halls, maker spaces, a product design lab, academic offices, an atrium, and an entrepreneurship hub.

Universities are embracing the idea that wellness and well-being efforts improve student success, and that student mental health impacts everyone. To that end, many institutions acknowledge wellness initiatives as preventative health measures rather than just an amenity. At North Carolina State University, for example, multiple stakeholder groups—including athletics, wellness, healthcare services, and mental health counseling—connect to help students build healthy habits and provide those in crisis with a more secure safety net. In 2018, NC State renamed University Recreation to Wellness and Recreation to better reflect the department’s focus on overall well-being for students and staff. With an annual operating budget of $6.3 million, the department has 32 professional staff and 650 student employees who provide fitness and wellness-related training and classes. A new Wellness and Recreation Center, scheduled to open in Fall 2020, will replace a 1960s building that has outlived its usefulness, despite a number of renovations over the years. The $45 million project addresses health, code, safety, and ADA deficiencies, and the resulting building will serve as a campus hub that provides more than 82,000 sf of fitness, administrative, and multipurpose space.

Baylor University is planning to construct the $60 million Mark and Paula Hurd Welcome Center in Waco, Texas. Designed by Populous, the vibrant campus hub will offer approximately 115,000 sf of space for academic, cultural, social, and alumni activities. Acting as the front door to the university, the project will include a 55,000-sf experience center with interactive digital technologies to engage prospective students and their families. Construction is expected to begin by summer of 2020 with completion slated for spring of 2022. 

Central Washington University broke ground on the $60 million Health Sciences Building in Ellensburg in November of 2019. Designed by LMN Architects, the 80,748-gsf facility will provide leading-edge classroom and laboratory environments for programs in clinical physiology, nutrition, paramedicine, public health, and exercise sciences. Completing the university's science precinct, the three-story structure will enable the consolidation of programs currently dispersed in four separate buildings across campus.

Bradley University opened the first phase of the Business and Engineering Convergence Center in October of 2019 in Peoria, Ill. Designed by Dewberry with Research Facilities Design (RFD) as laboratory design consultant, the $100 million building provides interactive teaching and research facilities for the Foster College of Business, the Caterpillar College of Engineering and Technology, and the Institute for Innovation through Collaboration.

Rochester Institute of Technology is constructing the Global Cybersecurity Institute in Rochester, N.Y. Designed by LaBella Associates, the 45,000-sf facility will provide technology-rich teaching, research, and administrative space for the Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences. The three-story building will feature a state-of-the-art cyber range, a cybersecurity learning center, a security operations hub, and an air-gapped computer lab for malware analysis.

The University of California, San Diego broke ground on the $41 million Design and Innovation Building in October of 2019. Accommodating entrepreneurial activities currently distributed across campus, the 74,000-sf facility will act as a hub for collaborative discovery as well as providing a new campus entrance from the light rail transit station. Designed by EHDD to offer transparent views of the activities occurring within, the multipurpose building will house maker spaces, workshops, a business incubator, general assignment classrooms, and a restaurant.

Great Ormond Street Hospital opened the £42 million Zayed Centre for Research into Rare Disease in Children in October of 2019 in London. Developed in partnership with University College London, the 140,000-sf translational research facility collocates biomedical laboratories, GMP manufacturing suites, clinical spaces, and offices to enable the creation of innovative medical devices and personalized gene and cell therapies.

Yale University opened the $283 million Yale Science Building in October of 2019 in New Haven, Conn. Housing the entire Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology department, the 280,300-sf multidisciplinary facility also accommodates part of the Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry department, as well as supporting faculty from physics and chemistry. The collaborative seven-level structure, which includes two floors below grade, features flexible labs that integrate both research and teaching functions in the same space.

The University of Houston System opened its $46.8 million Katy campus in October of 2019. Designed by SmithGroup, the three-story, 83,000-sf facility accommodates programs in nursing, engineering, business, education, computer science, mathematics, psychology, and political science, as well as supporting online instruction courses. The three-story building offers teaching labs, classrooms, learning studios, engineering capstone project rooms, a virtual library with computers, student lounges, a multipurpose room, and a self-serve convenience store.

Lehigh University broke ground on the $145 million Health, Science & Technology Building in October of 2019 in Bethlehem, Pa. Designed by Wilson HGA, the 190,000-gsf interdisciplinary facility will provide flexible research and teaching spaces, active learning studios, classrooms, social spaces, community areas, and offices. Supporting a culture of transparency and accountability, the five-story structure will utilize interior glass walls to encourage interaction and put science on display.

The University of Missouri (MU) will eliminate 750,000 sf of education and general facilities space by 2023 in order to reduce costs and improve overall space quality and utilization. The initiative will allow the university to save approximately $153 million in deferred maintenance, capital renewal, and plant adaption costs, as well as about $5 million in annual operating costs. It’s an ambitious undertaking, considering that the 1,200-acre main campus in Columbia, Mo., has 7 million sf of education and general facility space spread across 185 major buildings. To meet the 10 percent reduction goal over the next four years, the university will strategically demolish, divest, relocate, and rebuild a data-driven selection of aging or under-utilized buildings.

Dixie State University broke ground on the $58 million Science, Engineering & Technology Building in October of 2019 in St. George, Utah. Designed by VCBO Architecture with Research Facilities Design (RFD) as laboratory design consultant, the five-story, 120,000-sf facility will promote experiential education with numerous active-learning classrooms and 26 science, engineering, and technology labs.

Florida Institute of Technology will break ground in spring 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 include 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. The three-story center will also provide 20,000 sf of instructional and training space.

Ball State University opened the $62.5 million Health Professions Building in October of 2019 in Muncie, Ind. Housing the College of Health, the 165,000-sf project includes two structures, of four and five stories respectively, joined by a central core. Designed by RATIO Architects, the interdisciplinary facility provides active learning classrooms, labs, offices, clinical spaces, and a resource hub.