Research and Development

Ground was officially broken on the $1.2 billion National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility on May 28, 2013. Located on the Manhattan campus of Kansas State University, the 574,000-gsf facility will support research on infectious disease agents and will contain BSL-4, BSL-3, BSL-3Ag, and BSL-2 laboratories. The first phase of the project is an $80 million, 87,000-sf central utility plant that is being built by joint venture partners McCarthy Building Companies and Mortenson Construction.

The United Kingdom's National Health Service (NHS) has created 15 Academic Health Science Networks to promote translational research and the application of best practices in healthcare. The 15 AHSNs are: East Midlands; Eastern; Greater Manchester; North East and North Cumbria; North West Coast; Imperial College Health Partners; Oxford; South London; South West Peninsula; Kent, Surrey and Sussex; UCL Partners; Wessex; West Midlands; West of England; and Yorkshire and Humber.

New analytical planning tools and HVAC technologies can dramatically ease the transformation of existing academic buildings into high-performance state-of-the-art science labs. Along with advances in quantitative methods to assess the potential of existing space, innovations in HVAC strategy offer compact and energy-efficient solutions that are well suited to campus structures erected for different purposes decades ago.

The six-story, 578,000-sf Edmonton Clinic Health Academy (ECHA) at the University of Alberta, Canada, brings together 800 faculty and staff from 12 departments, and 6,000 students from the Health Sciences Department, who focus on population health, computational research, and translational research.

Sheffield University is planning to construct the $123 million New Engineering Building in the United Kingdom. Construction will begin in 2013 on the 200,000-sf facility and completion is expected in 2016. Designed by RMJM, the six-story building will provide dedicated engineering facilities and flexible learning spaces including lecture halls, large and small teaching rooms, and independent study spaces.

Syngenta opened the $72 million Advanced Crop Lab in May of 2013 in Research Triangle Park, N.C. The 136,000-sf facility features 30 plant growth environments in all-glass greenhouses that are capable of simulating a variety of climates with individual controls for humidity, light, and carbon dioxide levels. Design elements of the new facility include insulated glass walls that provide a virtually shadowless indoor environment, a liquid “fertigation” system to feed and water the plants, and an automated roof-washing system.

Continued signs of stable economic growth indicate that the recovery is gaining momentum in many parts of the United States and Canada. Construction selling prices for institutional projects grew at a 6 percent annualized rate in 2012, on top of a 3 percent increase in 2011. Construction costs are expected to continue stabilizing and rising in many regions as market confidence and capital spending increase.

Loyola Marymount University broke ground on a $110 million life sciences building in Los Angeles in May of 2013. Supporting programs in biology, chemistry, and natural sciences, the 103,500-sf interdisciplinary facility will provide 16,000 sf of research space, 34 teaching labs, classrooms, faculty offices, study lounges, and a 292-seat auditorium.  The project was designed by CO Architects with Research Facilities Design (RFD) as laboratory design consultant.

The Carbon Neutral Energy Solutions (C-NES) Laboratory at the Georgia Institute of Technology integrates three distinct types of space to create a research environment that offers optimal flexibility. The 42,000-sf building is designed to facilitate research programs of today and tomorrow by featuring not only labs and offices, but also high-bay spaces capable of housing large or heavy pieces of equipment and mid-bay spaces where the equipment is usually less than 10 feet tall.

La Trobe University opened the $97 million Institute for Molecular Science in Melbourne in spring of 2013. Providing teaching and research facilities for biotechnology, nanotechnology, and molecular science, the six-story, 118,400-sf project houses 34 research and support laboratories, instructional space, academic offices, and a lecture hall. The facility was designed by Lyons Architects and built by Watpac Construction. Ground was broken on the project in February of 2011 and the facility was dedicated in late February of 2013.

Montclair State University is planning to build the $55 million Center for Environmental and Life Sciences in Montclair, N.J. The 107,500-gsf facility will provide seven interdisciplinary group research suites, six core labs, five office areas, classrooms, seminar rooms, a microscopy suite, and a 150-seat lecture hall. Supporting programs including pharmaceutical biochemistry, sustainability science, and medicinal chemistry, the center will also provide teaching and research space for biology, computing, and mathematics.

St. Norbert College broke ground on the $39.2 million Gehl-Mulva Science Center in May of 2013 in De Pere, Wis. Created in partnership with the Medical College of Wisconsin, the 150,000-sf facility will provide 36 teaching and research labs, classrooms, informal collaboration spaces, small-group workrooms, and a greenhouse. The project includes renovation of the existing Minahan Science Hall and construction of a 57,800-sf addition.

The State of Vermont broke ground on a $39 million laboratory for the Department of Health in late April of 2013. Located in Colchester, the 47,844-sf building will be connected to the University of Vermont's existing biochemistry research facility to foster collaboration with investigators in the College of Medicine. The lab will house research programs on zoonotic disease agents and will support the identification of pathogens using molecular methods. The cost of construction is $30 million. Completion is expected by fall of 2014.

Wright State University broke ground on the $37 million Neuroscience Engineering Collaboration Building on April 25, 2013. Located in Fairborn, Ohio, the four-story, 90,000-sf facility will provide laboratories, offices, a 105-seat auditorium, and a four-story atrium. The multidisciplinary project will support translational neuroscience research with labs and cleanrooms for the development of new medical technologies. Completion is expected in February of 2015.

University of Oklahoma's Stephenson Life Sciences Research Center (SLSRC) is improving research productivity and attracting millions in grant funding thanks to a focus on transparency, flexible floor plans, and strategic multidisciplinary collaboration. The new academic research facility features an extensive use of interior glass, flexible modular furniture, and shared imaging resources, including NMR and x-ray crystallography equipment.