The College of the Holy Cross is planning to begin construction in spring of 2019 on a $92 million center for the arts in Worcester, Mass. Designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, the two-level, 85,500-sf building will include a 400-seat theater and concert hall, an experimental 200-seat studio theater, a media lab, rehearsal and dressing rooms, and workshops for lighting and set design.
South Dakota State University broke ground in October of 2018 on the $46.1 million Raven Precision Agriculture Center in Brookings. The 129,000-sf facility will provide collaborative classrooms and laboratories for the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences and the College of Engineering. Accommodating sophisticated instrumentation for data analytics and leading-edge farm equipment, the building will include flexible research areas for academic and industry partners.
The University of Ottawa opened the CAD$115 million STEM Complex in October of 2018. Designed by Perkins+Will to accommodate programs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, the collaborative 312,000-sf facility features open-plan teaching labs, a dedicated prototyping center, maker spaces with 3D printers, and an entrepreneurship hub.
The University of Kentucky opened the first phase of its $265 million health research facility in September of 2018. Located in Lexington, the six-story, 300,000-sf building accommodates the study of health disparities in conditions including cancer, diabetes, obesity, and substance abuse. Designed by HGA Architects and Engineers, the multidisciplinary research facility features open labs with collocated computational and wet bench space. The first phase of construction included completion of the first three floors and parts of the basement level.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison broke ground in September of 2018 on a $133 million project to accommodate the department of Chemistry. A nine-story tower will be added to the Daniels Chemistry Building, providing three floors of undergraduate teaching labs, one floor of research labs, two large lecture halls, a flexible active learning studio, an atrium, an information commons, conference rooms, offices, and classrooms. Six undergraduate teaching labs in the Daniels Building will be renovated, and new classrooms, offices, and study areas will be created.
The University of California, Irvine opened the $67 million Anteater Learning Pavilion in October of 2018. Designed by LMN Architects, the dedicated active learning facility includes the two-story Pavilion which houses a 250-seat lecture hall and a 400-seat lecture hall with double-tier seating. A central circulation structure called the Bridge provides connectivity to a three-story wing offering classrooms, offices, computer labs, and a student mixing hall.
Columbia University opened The Forum in September of 2018 in New York. Designed by Renzo Piano Building Workshop with Dattner Architects as executive architect, the 56,000-sf facility provides a 437-seat auditorium, conference and breakout rooms, collaboration spaces, and faculty offices. Acting as the gateway to the new Manhattanville campus, the triangular-shaped building offers flexible multiuse spaces and a 4,200-sf café on the ground floor to promote community engagement.
Universities typically build or acquire new academic space sparingly, after long deliberation. When changing economic conditions dropped a whole campus into Lehigh University’s lap, the challenge has been to use that space in ways that support today’s education. Industrial giant Bethlehem Steel didn’t go formally bankrupt until 2001, but the writing was on the wall as early as 1987, when the company sold the majority of its “Mountaintop” research facility to Lehigh, which has since acquired two more buildings there, including Mountaintop C. That massive building’s three high bays attached to a curved bank of offices, is now home to student-driven projects in an environment that seeks to keep elements of the industrial feel and keep large bays as relatively rough, unfinished space.
The University of Iowa broke ground in October of 2018 on the $33 million Psychological and Brain Sciences Building in Iowa City. Acting as a gateway to the east side of campus, the six-story, 64,000-sf teaching and research building will offer technology-rich classrooms and labs, administrative offices, conference rooms, and breakout spaces. The collaborative facility will feature a learning commons and an interior plaza illuminated by natural light. Completion is expected in 2019.
The University of Texas at Arlington opened the $125 million Science & Engineering Innovation & Research Building (SEIR) in September of 2018. Designed by ZGF Architects and Page Southerland Page to accommodate interdisciplinary biomedical research, the six-story, 229,000-sf facility includes a two-story classroom wing, a four-story research wing, and a basement laboratory level with vibration-mitigated instrumentation suites.
Georgia Southern University opened the $33.6 million Interdisciplinary Academic Building in September of 2018 in Statesboro. Designed by HOK, the three-story, 110,000-sf facility provides flexible learning spaces and laboratories for the College of Health and Human Sciences. The interdisciplinary building accommodates programs in interior design, history, foreign languages, writing & linguistics, international studies, health professions, and fashion merchandising and apparel design.
Creighton University will begin construction in spring of 2019 on a $100 million health sciences campus in midtown Phoenix. Located at Park Central, the 200,000-sf facility will accommodate programs in medicine, nursing, pharmacy, physician assistance, emergency services, and occupational and physical therapy. The project team includes architect Butler Design Group, general contractor Okland Construction, and developer Plaza Companies. Completion is expected in spring of 2021.
Brigham Young University opened an $80 million facility for the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering in September of 2018 in Provo, Utah. Designed by VCBO Architects with Research Facilities Design (RFD) as laboratory programming and design consultant, the five-story, 200,000-sf facility features a dedicated laboratory annex, a student innovation floor, and a prototyping shop.
ETH Zurich, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, began construction in September of 2018 on a biosystems science facility in Basel. Designed by Nickl & Partner Architekten, the nine-story, 400,000-sf facility will provide cleanrooms, labs, classrooms, offices, a glazed atrium, and a cafeteria.
Higher education facilities executives are rightly focused on the needs of students, faculty, and administrators, but what about prospective students and their parents? Targeting facility and campus improvements to boost the campus tour experience has a positive impact on recruitment, enrollment, and retention. A formal evaluation process—resulting in a detailed scorecard and a set of recommendations presented in the form of a prioritization matrix—might enhance the all-important first impressions and intangibles that are impossible to quantify.
