Research and Development

Carnegie Mellon University is partnering with Tata Consultancy Services to create TCS Hall in Pittsburgh. Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the 48,000-sf joint facility will provide research labs, academic and administrative offices, instructional space, an innovation courtyard, and a robotics area. TCS Hall will support collaborative research in artificial intelligence, automation, data analytics, cybersecurity, robotics, and autonomous vehicles.

The $75 million Florida Advanced Manufacturing Research Center opened in April of 2017 in Kissimmee. Created by the University of Central Florida in collaboration with Osceola County and the Florida High Tech Corridor Council, the 109,000-sf facility houses the world’s first industry-led smart sensor consortium.

Utah State University broke ground in April of 2017 on the $45 million Life Sciences Building in Logan. Designed by VCBO Architects with Research Facilities Design (RFD) as laboratory design consultant, the 103,000-sf facility will provide 13 teaching labs, research labs, a lecture hall, and study spaces. The project will also house the Department of Biology. Completion is expected in January of 2019.

The University of Glasgow officially opened the £32 million Imaging Centre of Excellence in late March of 2017. Located at the South Glasgow Hospitals campus in Scotland, the facility features a 7-Tesla clinical MRI scanner to support advanced neurological and cardiovascular research. The building also houses neurosurgery operating suites and a biomedical business incubator called the Clinical Innovation Zone. The project was designed by BMJ Architects and built by BAM Construction.

Northwestern College broke ground in April of 2017 on a $24.5 million health and natural sciences center in Orange City, Iowa. Designed by Cannon Moss Brygger and HGA, the 61,000-sf facility will provide classrooms, labs, and offices for the departments of biology, chemistry, and nursing.

Veterinary pharmaceutical firm HIPRA is planning to begin construction in mid-2017 on its North American headquarters in Mantua Township, N.J. Located on 25 acres in the South Jersey Technology Park at Rowan University, the 375,000-sf facility will house research and development labs for the creation of animal health vaccines. The $100 million project will be developed in several phases and will include manufacturing, distribution, and warehouse space. HIPRA is based in Girona, Spain. 

The State of Idaho will begin construction in mid-2017 on two new research facilities at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) in Idaho Falls. The 80,000-sf Cybercore Integration Center will accommodate cybersecurity research, development, and education. The 67,000-sf Collaborative Computing Center will house a supercomputer for advanced simulation and modeling operations. The estimated construction cost of both facilities is $75 million. The new centers will be owned by the state of Idaho and leased by INL, which is managed by Battelle.

Texas State University is building the $120 million Bruce and Gloria Ingram Hall on its San Marcos campus. Designed by TreanorHL and Alamo Architects, the five-story, 122,665-sf facility will provide a makerspace, collaborative teaching and research labs, classrooms, study areas, and a robotics and welding studio. Ground was broken on the multidisciplinary project in August of 2016 and completion is expected in summer of 2018.

As interdisciplinary team research and translational medicine become increasingly critical to advancing medical treatment of complex diseases, information itself—the visualization, shared storage, analysis, and harnessing of data—is becoming the most important driver in scientific research. The resulting shift to a higher ratio of dry (computational) space versus wet labs is forcing building designers to examine new ways to foster an open, collaborative culture while accommodating computational science needs.

Stockton University is building the $33.2 million Unified Science Center 2 in Galloway, N.J. The three-story, 58,210-sf facility will house teaching and research labs, a vivarium, a gross anatomy lab, a multipurpose room, a greenhouse, and faculty offices. The $15.2 million, 37,720-sf Health Sciences Center is also under construction and will provide simulation suites, an exercise science lab, and space for the sustainability program. Both projects are slated for occupancy in 2018.

The University of Texas at San Antonio is planning to begin construction in early 2018 on the $95 million Science and Engineering Building. Designed by TreanorHL and Alamo Architects to promote interaction and collaboration, the multidisciplinary facility will provide active learning classrooms, teaching labs, and faculty offices to support STEM programs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Canadian pharmaceutical company Apotex began construction in spring of 2017 on a $184 million research and advanced manufacturing center in Miramar, Fla. The facility will house the firm’s U.S. headquarters as well as accommodating R&D, production, and packaging operations. Completion is expected in early 2019.

The University of Sussex is planning to build the £60 million Life Sciences Building in Brighton in the United Kingdom. Designed by Hawkins Brown Architects, the 183,000-sf project includes the renovation of an existing genome research building and construction of a five-story addition housing technology-rich classrooms and collaborative laboratories for research and teaching. The sustainably designed facility will feature natural materials, green roofs, and internal courtyard atriums.

The Medical College of Georgia is engaged in a $62.5 million expansion of its cancer research facilities in Augusta. Designed to promote interaction between clinicians and researchers, the project includes the creation of a three-story facility housing offices and collaboration space connecting the M.

The University of Texas of the Permian Basin began construction in April of 2017 on a $55 million engineering building in Midland. Designed by Stantec and JSA Architects, the three-story, 105,800-gsf facility will provide laboratories, classrooms, a lecture hall, and faculty offices. The general contractor for the project is Adolfson and Peterson Construction. Completion is expected in April of 2019.