Research and Development

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock opened the $15 million Center for Integrative Nanotechnology Sciences in May of 2012. The five-story, 50,534-sf project provides research facilities for scientists and students to explore the interface between nanomaterials, plant biology, and mammalian biology, and houses advanced laboratories, offices, and a rooftop greenhouse. LEED Gold sustainable design certification will be sought for the building.

The University at Buffalo dedicated the $75 million Barbara and Jack Davis Hall in May of 2012. Housing the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, the 130,000-sf facility provides flexible laboratories, classrooms, and seminar rooms for interdisciplinary research and education.

Middle Tennessee State University broke ground on its $147 million Science Building in Murfreesboro in May of 2012. Providing over 250,000 sf for STEM education (programs in science, technology, engineering, and math), the facility will include seven teaching labs, a 150-seat lecture hall, two-tiered discussion classrooms, and advanced instrumentation suites.

Southern Research Institute announced in May of 2012 that it will collaborate with the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston to develop and validate a high-volume, high-throughput screening platform within BSL-4 containment space at Galveston National Lab. High-throughput screening (HTS) involves the process of rapidly screening and testing large numbers of different chemical compounds against select disease targets.

Amgen is initiating a $200 million expansion of its campus in Dun Laoghaire, Ireland. The project includes construction of a 126,000-sf building extension, a new production plant, an expanded warehouse, and extensive refurbishment of the existing buildings. In addition, a significant research and development investment will also see the Dun Laoghaire facility undergo a major technology process enhancement to transform the plant into one of the leading biotechnology manufacturing sites in the world.

The NuMI Off-Axis Electron Neutrino Appearance Experiment (NOvA) far detector building opened in April of 2012. Located near International Falls, Minn., the $283 million facility was created by a partnership of the U.S. Department of Energy, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, and the University of Minnesota's School of Physics and Astronomy and the Twin Cities College of Science and Engineering. The project was built by Adolfson & Peterson Construction Management of Minneapolis.

The $1 billion Francis Crick Institute is under construction in London. The 10-story, 980,000-sf facility was designed by HOK in partnership with PLP Architecture to accommodate interdisciplinary biomedical research. Construction began in June of 2011 with occupancy expected in 2015. The general contractor for the project is Laing O’Rourke. The Francis Crick Institute will house 1,250 researchers and 250 support staff and will include biocontainment laboratories.

Binghamton University is planning to build the $70 million Smart Energy Research and Development Facility in Vestal, N.Y. The project will support the development of industry partnerships and will accommodate research programs in solar and thermoelectric energy harvesting, energy storage, energy efficiency in electronic systems, and sensor development for energy resource management. Construction is expected to begin in mid-2012 and reach completion by fall of 2017.

Baxter International will begin construction in 2012 on a $1 billion biologics manufacturing complex in Atlanta. Accommodating over 1,500 employees, the facility will support the creation of advanced plasma-based therapeutics. Commercial production is expected to begin in 2018.

Wayne State University is planning to create the $93 million Multidisciplinary Biomedical Research Facility in Detroit. Designed by Harley Ellis Devereaux, the project will include 127,700 gsf of renovated space and 75,000 gsf of new construction. The building will house programs in bioinformatics, computational biology, cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorders, biomedical engineering, and systems biology. The facility will house up to 450 staff members engaged in team-based research led by 45 principal investigators.

Purdue University will begin construction in summer of 2012 on the $28.7 million Drug Discovery Facility in West Lafayette, Ind. Located in the Purdue Life and Health Sciences Park, the project will feature open labs for cancer cell biology, therapeutic and medical device development, cell-based screening, medicinal chemistry, and next-generation imaging. The construction cost of the project is $23.6 million. The facility will be attached to the existing Bindley Bioscience Center and is supported by $14.9 million in federal funding. 

The University of Utah dedicated the $130 million James L. Sorenson Molecular Biotechnology Building in April of 2012. The multidisciplinary research facility was designed by Lord, Aeck & Sargent in association with Prescott Muir Architects and houses the Brain Institute, the Nano Institute of Utah, and the Department of Bioengineering.

The Buck Institute for Research on Aging opened the $36.5 million Regenerative Medicine Research Center in April of 2012 in Novato, Calif. Designed by Perkins+Will of San Francisco, the 65,600-sf stem cell research facility provides 12 open labs, cell and tissue storage space, offices, and a fitness center. The building is three stories tall with a basement and features a geothermal heating and cooling system.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. broke ground in April of 2012 on a fifth phase of expansion at Fab 14 GigaFab in Taiwan. The facility will provide commercialized 20-nanometer process technology when it begins volume production in early 2014. Upon completion, a sixth phase of expansion will commence at Fab 14 for a combined construction value of $11.6 billion. The two phases will provide a total of 936,460 sf of cleanroom space. 

A 56,065-gsf expansion of the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics (JILA) opened in April of 2012 in Boulder, Colo. The project provides JILA, a research partnership of the University of Colorado and the National Institute of Standards and Technology, with additional vibration-mitigated laboratory space. In addition to a wide range of studies in atomic, molecular, and optical physics, JILA also makes extremely precise measurements of ultrafast processes and at ultralow temperatures.