Higher Education

Clemson University broke ground in March of 2024 on a new home for the Department of Forestry and Environmental Conservation. Designed by Moseley Architects, the $68.3 million facility will prepare the next generation of agribusiness leaders for rewarding careers in natural resource management. The four-story, 85,000-sf building will provide teaching and research labs, classrooms, collaboration spaces, support areas, and offices for faculty and staff.

Miami University opened the $58 million Richard M. McVey Data Science Building in March of 2024 in Oxford, Ohio. Designed by BHDP Architecture and CannonDesign, the 92,000-sf facility provides collaborative environments for learning, making, and discovery.

Gavilan College is expanding into San Benito County with the development of a new campus in Hollister. Designed by Gensler and Quattrocchi Kwok Architects, the first $60 million phase of construction will provide a 34,000-sf facility housing classrooms, a learning resource center, science and computer labs, a community room, administrative offices, support spaces, and a café. A welcoming lobby will encourage students to engage in informal interaction or explore academic offerings.

The Ingham Institute for Applied Medical Research broke ground in February of 2024 on the AU$55 million Lang AO Medical Research Building - MacArthur. Located next to Campbelltown Hospital, the 63,000-sf project will provide state-of-the-art laboratories for the study of diabetes, pediatrics, addiction, mental illness, and indigenous health, and pediatrics. BVN Architecture’s vision for the translational facility interweaves collaboration spaces and instrumentation suites with flexible, open settings for shared discovery.

Increasing demand for BSL-3 and ABSL-3 lab space in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic is driving up interest in renovating existing research facilities to accommodate these high-containment spaces. Even a small BSL-3 lab can be a costly undertaking, with special attention required for security of both personnel and biohazards, location in the building, and waste disposal, as well as the design and commissioning of exhaust system.

The new Science and Engineering Building (SEB), completed in 2020 on the campus of the University of Texas at San Antonio, is helping the engineering, biology, and chemistry departments overcome the challenges of inadequate infrastructure, crowded instructional rooms, poor access between labs across multiple buildings, insufficient lab support areas, and lack of space to accommodate capstone projects.

The University of Louisville is constructing a $90 million facility to provide the J.B. Speed School of Engineering with dynamic environments for hands-on learning and discovery. Designed by Luckett & Farley and SmithGroup, the 114,000-sf structure will accommodate laboratories, classrooms, a maker space, design studios, and event venues. The four-story development will drive the growth of Kentucky’s technology-enabled economy by offering collaboration venues for shared exploration with industry partners.

Texas A&M University is constructing the $49.9 million Nursing Education and Research Building in McAllen. Designed by Page, the three-story, 61,000-sf facility will address a crucial need for skilled healthcare professionals by improving access to learning opportunities in the Rio Grande Valley. The flexible, technology-enabled structure will provide a 10,000-sf clinical simulation center, four nursing classrooms, and areas for informal interaction and study.

San Diego State University broke ground in February of 2024 on the $95 million Sciences and Engineering Laboratories in Brawley, Calif. Located on the Imperial Valley campus, the 37,000-sf structure will provide flexible classrooms, teaching labs, and training venues. The sustainably designed building will also include the STEM Innovation Hub where faculty and students can engage in collaborative research. A covered outdoor courtyard will act as a year-round destination for informal interaction and study.

Beacon Capital Partners and Trammell Crow Company are constructing Hyde Park Labs in Chicago. Designed by Elkus Manfredi Architects, Moody Nolan, and Interactive Design Architects (IDEA), the $225 million project involves the creation of a 13-story building atop an existing retail podium. The completed 370,000-sf facility will offer 300,000 rsf of Class A lab and office space spread over nine floors.

James Cook University opened the AUD$100 million Engineering and Innovation Place in February of 2024 on the Douglas campus in Townsville. Designed by KIRK Studio in association with i4 Architecture and Charles Wright Architects, the 101,180-sf building accommodates social learning environments, 23 laboratories, a maker space, conference rooms, and a multimodal studio. The modular and flexible structure also includes a soaring atrium and collaboration venues for shared development with industry partners.

Vincennes University broke ground in February of 2024 on the $34 million Center for Health Sciences and Active Learning. Representing the largest capital project in the school’s history, the 72,000-sf facility will feature multidisciplinary teaching labs for programs in nursing and allied health professions. Clinical simulation suites with high-fidelity manikins and virtual technologies will allow the next generation of caregivers to engage in hands-on training.

Colorado School of Mines opened the $19.4 million Labriola Innovation Hub in February of 2024 in Golden, Colo. Designed by OZ Architecture, the 37,260-sf building features collaborative project studios and maker spaces where faculty, students, alumni, and industry partners can discover new solutions for critical societal problems. This campus-wide resource for invention supports both physical and computational approaches to ideation, prototyping, and testing.

Stanford University is committed to reducing carbon emissions across all scopes of work with the goal of achieving net zero emissions within its campus operations. To achieve this, the facilities department at the university is developing a database that tracks carbon intensities for different building types, updates facility design and project delivery guidelines, and implements whole building life cycle analysis for all major capital projects. 

The University of Nevada, Las Vegas opened the $73 million Advanced Engineering Building in February of 2024. Designed by SmithGroup in association with PGAL, the 52,000-sf facility will enable the Howard R. Hughes College of Engineering to increase total enrollment from 3,000 to 5,000 students to address a national need for skilled professionals. On the ground floor, a flexible classroom is strategically sited next to a maker space to foster the application of academic knowledge to hands-on exploration.