Toyota Motor Corp. broke ground in June of 2015 on an expansion of its Technical Center in York Township, Mich. The $126 million project includes construction of a vehicle prototype development facility, a distribution hub, and an addition to the existing powertrain research center. Completion is expected in late 2016. Toyota is also constructing a new North American headquarters in Plano, Texas.
The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute will open a $42 million genome sequencing facility in August of 2015 in Hinxton in the United Kingdom. The three-story, 51,667-sf project is located near Cambridge on the Institute's biomedical research campus. The sequencing facility is an integral part of the master plan for the site, which will include a 38,750-sf bio-data innovation center. The Sanger Institute is operated by Genome Research Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Wellcome Trust.
The University of Glasgow began construction in fall of 2015 on the $25 million Imaging Centre of Excellence at the South Glasgow Hospitals Campus in Scotland. Designed by BMJ Architects, the project includes redevelopment of an existing building to provide advanced medical research space for neurological and cardiovascular conditions and will feature a 7-Tesla clinical MRI scanner.
Cincinnati Children's Hospital opened the $205 million Clinical Sciences Pavilion in June of 2015. The 15-story, 445,000-sf translational research tower will house over 1,500 scientists, clinicians, and staff engaged in the application of medical discoveries to patient care. The facility features a three-story atrium, a clinical trials center, advanced imaging suites, and laboratories and offices arranged in research neighborhoods to foster interaction and collaboration. Construction began on the pavilion in 2012.
Using a phased, core-and-shell strategy to construct the 310,000-gsf Life Science Laboratories (LSL) building allowed the University of Massachusetts Amherst to obtain high-level research space and take advantage of the competitive bid market and economic incentives available in 2010. The approach also provided economies of scale and the advantage of postponing programming and occupancy decisions with subsequent fit-outs.
Ferris State University will open the Shimadzu Core Laboratory for Academic and Research Excellence in fall of 2015. Located in the Arts and Sciences Complex in Big Rapids, Mich., the facility will include seven new instruments supplied by the Shimadzu Corporation with a total value of $500,000. The core lab will feature advanced spectrophotometry equipment to support student research in chemistry, physics, molecular biology, biochemistry, and forensic science.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security broke ground in May of 2015 on the $835 million National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) in Manhattan, Kan. Created in partnership with Kansas State University, the 574,000-gsf facility will provide shared BSL-2, BSL-3, and BSL-4 research space for the study of infectious diseases and select agents. The project is being built by the joint venture construction team of McCarthy/Mortenson.
Iowa State University's transgenic swine facility at Zumwalt Station Farm in Ames received an Award of Distinction from the Modular Building Institute in May of 2015. The 2,904-sf project was designed, manufactured, and installed by Art's Way Scientific. Supporting research on the genetic modification of domestic animals for agricultural and biomedical applications, the standalone facility incorporates biosafety features to protect a closed herd of swine.
St. Norbert College opened the renovated and expanded Gehl-Mulva Science Center in May of 2015 in De Pere, Wis. Supporting programs in physics, math, psychology, geology, biology, and chemistry, the completed 160,000-sf facility provides 45 teaching and research labs, 10 classrooms, a large lecture hall, 15 study lounges, and 38 faculty offices. The $40 million project included a multi-level expansion of the existing structure with construction of additions at the east and west ends.
Purdue University is planning to build the $60 million Agricultural and Life Sciences Facility complex in West Lafayette, Ind. The 123,000-gsf project will provide consolidated teaching and research space for the Department of Animal Sciences. Construction will begin in February of 2016 with occupancy expected in July of 2017. Purdue will also construct the $8.8 million Centaur Regional Equine Diagnostic and Surgical Center in Shelbyville which will house academic space for the College of Veterinary Medicine as well as providing health services to horses.
North Central College broke ground in May of 2015 on a $60 million science center in Naperville, Ill. Housing the departments of biochemistry, biology, chemistry, computer science, mathematics, neuroscience, physics, and psychology, the four-story, 125,000-sf interdisciplinary building will support progressive pedagogies for STEM education (science, technology, engineering, and math).
The University of Vermont broke ground on a $104 million STEM education complex in Burlington in May of 2015. Designed by Ellenzweig and Freeman French Freeman, the two-building, 266,000-sf facility will support programs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The phased project will include construction of the Discovery Building, providing teaching and research labs, followed by the Innovation Building, which will house classrooms and meeting rooms. Lastly, the existing engineering facility will undergo a complete renovation.
The National University of Singapore opened a 7,000-sf biosafety laboratory for the study of infectious diseases in May of 2015. The BSL-3 facility is located at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine's Centre for Translational Medicine and will support the development of new diagnostics, vaccines, and therapies.
General Motors began construction in May of 2015 on a $1 billion expansion and renovation project in Warren, Mich. Built in the 1950s, the Warren Technical Center will be redesigned to provide collaborative office and research space for product development. Featuring new design studios and testing areas, the project also includes construction of a multi-story information technology facility on the 326-acre campus. Completion is expected in 2018.
CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, is initiating an expansion of Building 887 to accommodate neutrino detection experiments in Prévessin, France. The general contractor for the 38,750-sf project is OMBA Impianti & Engineering and the value of the construction contract is $10.3 million. Completion of the building, including specialized foundations, steel structures, and facades, is expected in February of 2016.
