Research and Development

Baxter International broke ground in August of 2012 on a $1 billion biologics manufacturing complex east of Atlanta near Covington, Ga. Located in the Stanton Springs development, the facility will support the creation of advanced plasma-based therapeutics and will accommodate 1,500 employees. Completion of the first manufacturing building is expected in 2015. Other buildings on site will house testing laboratories and warehouse space; completion is expected in 2016. Commercial production will commence in 2018.

Michigan Technological University opened the $25 million Great Lakes Research Center in Houghton in August of 2012. The 50,000-sf facility provides laboratories for limnology, aquatics, hydraulics, sediment, mass spectrometry, and exotic species. The center also houses offices, a computer and data center, a boat dock and lift, and support for underwater robotic units. 

Indiana University broke ground on the $52 million Neurosciences Research Building in Indianapolis in August of 2012. Designed by BSA LifeStructures and built by Messer Construction, the 137,000-sf facility is a collaborative initiative between Indiana University School of Medicine and Indiana University Health. The translational research building will unite clinical practice with the study of neurological disorders by providing inpatient care, outpatient care, and research in one location.

Vassar College is planning to create a $125 million integrated science center in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Designed by Ennead Architects, the project includes construction of an 85,000-sf addition to Olmsted Hall and renovation of existing facilities. The center will provide multidisciplinary teaching and research space.

Construction began on the $47 million New York Genome Center in July of 2012. The project includes build-out of 170,000 sf of leased space to provide advanced facilities for sequencing, bioinformatics, R&D, and data processing. The New York Genome Center will be located on seven floors of a LEED Silver-certified building and will include a ground-floor auditorium and cafe, training facilities, and administrative offices. Completion is expected in mid-2013.

Ohio State University broke ground in July of 2012 on the 235,000-sf Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Chemistry Building (CBEC) in Columbus. The $126 million facility will contain wet research labs with ancillary support, computational research suites, shared core laboratories, instructional spaces, and offices for faculty, administration, and graduate students. Stantec, together with Pelli Clarke Pelli, will serve as the architect for the project. The construction manager at risk is Gilbane Building Company.

Autodesk has introduced BIM 360, a next-generation Building Information Modeling platform. Autodesk BIM 360 includes a set of cloud services that will provide anytime, anywhere access to BIM project information throughout the project lifecycle. Autodesk BIM 360 will work with BIM solutions for design, construction, and operations including the Autodesk Building Design Suite and Autodesk Infrastructure Design Suite.

Lancaster University has selected John McAslan + Partners to design its new engineering building in the United Kingdom. The 50,700-sf project will include two wings connected by a four-story atrium and will provide laboratory, workshop, and office space. The highest level of BREEAM sustainable design certification will be sought for the facility, which will utilize solar, biomass, and wind energy systems.

The University of Wisconsin Milwaukee (UWM) broke ground in July of 2012 on a $53 million expansion of the Great Lakes Research Facility. Providing classrooms and aquaculture laboratories for the School of Freshwater Sciences, the facility will also house the Center for Water Policy and the Great Lakes Genomics Center. Construction will begin on the facility in August of 2012. UWM will also lease space in an existing facility that is being renovated to create a water technology business accelerator; completion is expected in spring of 2013.

Nanjing University has selected HDR to provide conceptual and schematic design services, as well as a master plan, for the new College of Engineering and Applied Sciences building. Located in Nanjing, China, the 650,000-sf facility will house four academic departments (material science and engineering; quantum electronics and optical engineering; biomedical engineering; and energy science and engineering), six interdisciplinary research centers, and a state-of-the-art conference center.

Long Beach Memorial began building the $31 million Todd Cancer Institute Pavilion in July of 2012. The facility is being constructed by McCarthy Building Companies and occupancy is expected early in the summer of 2013. The project includes the transformation of 65,000 sf on the second and third floors of an existing four-level administration building into a dedicated cancer treatment center. A two-level, 1,913-sf lobby addition will also be constructed.

West Virginia University broke ground on a $22 million animal research facility in Morgantown in July of 2012. Located adjacent to the existing Health Sciences Center, the 22,000-sf building will provide biosafety laboratories and a rodent vivarium. The project is supported by $14.5 million in federal stimulus funding.

The University of California, Berkeley will begin occupying the new Energy Biosciences Building in August of 2012. Formerly known as the Helios Energy Research Facility, the five-story, 112,800-sf project provides collaborative research space for the study of lignocellulosic biofuels. The facility houses wet laboratories for molecular and microbial biology, fermentation, and chemical separation, as well as greenhouses, warm and cold rooms, shared instrumentation space, offices, workrooms, and conference space.

Colorado State University has broken ground for its new Equine Reproduction Laboratory in Fort Collins. The 12,000-sf facility will provide teaching space, microbiology and molecular labs, and exam rooms. The $5 million project will support research in equine diseases and advanced reproductive technologies such as embryo transfer. 

The University of Dundee began building the $20 million Centre for Translational and Interdisciplinary Research in Scotland in July of 2012. Part of the College of Life Sciences, the four-story facility will house collaborative drug discovery research with labs, offices, support, and a high-throughput robotic and molecular pharmacology suite. Disciplines represented in the facility will include mathematical biology and biophysics, bioinformatics, and data analysis.