Higher Education

The University of Montreal is building a CAD$350 million science complex on its Outremont campus. Designed by NFOE, Lemay, and MSDL Architects, the 592,000-gsf project will provide interdisciplinary research and teaching facilities for the departments of chemistry, physics, geography, and biological sciences. LEED Gold sustainable design certification will be sought for the complex, which is being built by EBC at a construction cost of CAD$254 million.

Colorado State University broke ground in June of 2017 on the $65 million C. Wayne McIlwraith Translational Medicine Institute in Fort Collins. The three-story, 100,000-sf facility will provide the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences with clinical and research laboratories, a technology-rich surgical center, and a 200-seat auditorium. The project will support the creation of advanced biological therapies for both humans and animals, with applications being tested in veterinary patients as a precursor to the development of human treatments.

Durham College is building the $40 million Centre for Collaborative Education in Oshawa, Canada. Designed as a campus innovation hub, the 76,000-sf facility will house a business incubator and instructional spaces for programs in pharmacy and behavioral science. The sustainably designed project will feature a green roof, a living wall, a photovoltaic array, and energy-efficient lighting. Completion is expected in April of 2018. 

Golden West College broke ground in May of 2017 on the 120,561-sf Mathematics and Science Building in Huntington Beach, Calif. Designed by HMC Architects with Research Facilities Design (RFD) as laboratory design consultant, the three-story facility will support a pedagogical model of exploratory learning with 18 wet and dry science labs, interactive classrooms, computer labs, faculty offices, collaboration areas, and a STEM center.

Today, doctors seldom work alone, and often work with technology, so the faculty at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas knew they wanted to make team-based learning a central part of their curriculum. They just needed a space to back up that plan. With a class of 240 students and an intense learning program, they realized their vision by creating a technology-rich space big enough to accommodate the entire class at once, and flexible enough to divide into smaller spaces when needed.

The Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research opened the Advanced Research Centre for Infectious Diseases in May of 2017 at the University of Ghana in Accra. Supporting the detection, testing, and study of infectious diseases and pathogenic agents, the facility features animal research labs, a BSL-3 (P3) biocontainment lab, and vivarium space. Construction of the project, which includes a solar energy plant, was made possible by a $21 million grant from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

The University of New Brunswick opened the Marine Additive Manufacturing Centre of Excellence in May of 2017 in Fredericton. Supported by $2.7 million in funding from Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, the $5 million facility is Canada’s first 3D metal printing research center for the marine and defense industries. Created in partnership with Custom Fabricators and Machinists (CFM) and community colleges in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, the project will also accommodate training and workforce development programs.  

Utah State University is constructing the $28 million Center for Clinical Excellence in Logan. Designed by Jacoby Architects, the 105,000-sf facility will serve as a comprehensive human services center, integrating various clinics and services in an interdisciplinary environment. Comprised of two wings connected by transparent bridges, the four-story project will accommodate clinical training for students in the Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services.

Midwestern State University will begin construction in fall of 2017 on a $40 million facility for the Gunn College of Health Sciences and Human Services in Wichita Falls, Texas. Designed by Randall Scott and Associates, the four-story, 85,000-sf building will feature an 80-student round classroom, a learning stair, a collaborative student lounge, and a full-height atrium. The center will provide simulation training suites, classrooms, and teaching labs for programs including nursing, dental hygiene, radiologic sciences, respiratory care, and social work.

Franklin College broke ground in May of 2017 on a $17 million renovation and expansion of its science center in Franklin, Ind. Designed by BSA LifeStructures, the project will transform the existing 30,000-sf structure into a 51,000-sf building featuring flexible learning spaces that combine laboratory and lecture functions. Offering 16,000 sf of lab space, the completed center will provide nine collaborative learning spaces, 12 teaching labs, three research labs, multi-use classrooms, a teleconferencing suite, and student project areas.

Intense pressure to attract the smartest students and prepare them for tomorrow’s workforce is prompting engineering schools to provide a broad education with hands-on learning, an interdisciplinary curriculum, collaborative activities, and partnerships with local industries. The broader curriculum goes beyond the traditional engineering principles and practices by providing maker spaces to stimulate students’ creativity, critical-thinking ability, and problem-solving skills.

The University of Texas at Dallas is constructing a 200,000-gsf engineering facility on its Richardson campus. Designed by SmithGroup JJR to promote collaboration, the project will provide 120,000 assignable square feet for the Department of Mechanical Engineering including research labs, teaching labs, classrooms, faculty offices, student work areas, and a 300-seat auditorium. The building will offer a mix of high-bay, wet, dry, and core laboratories to support research programs in energy, robotics, and nanobiotechnology.

Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) and the City University of New York (CUNY) are developing a joint facility in New York City. MSK’s 23-story outpatient tower, the 750,000-gsf David H. Koch Center for Cancer Care, will feature advanced surgical suites, radiation therapy rooms, and dedicated space for clinical trials. CUNY’s six-story, 400,000-gsf (336,000-asf) Hunter College Science and Health Professions Building will provide sophisticated simulation training suites, teaching and research labs, a technology-rich library, faculty offices, and a vivarium.

 The University of Florida opened the $67 million Joseph Hernandez Hall in Gainesville in April of 2017. Designed by Stantec to accommodate programs in chemistry and chemical biology, the five-story, 111,500-sf facility features a general chemistry lab capable of accommodating 256 students at one time, as well as graduate and faculty research labs, interactive undergraduate teaching labs, classrooms, offices, conference rooms, and core research facilities.

The University of Houston-Clear Lake broke ground in April of 2017 on a $20 million health sciences building in Pearland, Texas. Designed by PBK Architects, the three-story, 70,000-sf facility will support programs including nursing, behavioral science, and clinical counseling, and will house a satellite center of the UHCL Center for Autism and Developmental Disabilities. The general contractor for the project is Austin Commercial. Completion is expected in January of 2019.