Research and Development

Healthpoint Biotherapeutics will begin construction in mid-2012 on a renovation of its 80,000-sf research and manufacturing campus in Fort Worth, Texas. The new facilities will comprise 25,000 sf of advanced manufacturing infrastructure, laboratories, and clean rooms for the production of cell-based therapies. Healthpoint will invest approximately $60 million to build out and staff the research and manufacturing facility over the next few years.

India's Defence Research and Development Organisation opened the Defence Bioengineering and Electromedical Laboratory (DEBEL) in Bangalore in June of 2012. The advanced R&D laboratory will support biomedical engineering, human aviation engineering, and the development of military life support systems and aero-medical equipment. The facility houses a hydrostatic simulator, a dynamic test centrifuge, a high altitude simulation chamber, and a testing suite for technical textiles.

As U.S. manufacturing continues to evolve into more highly technical industries, the demand for creating environmentally controlled space within manufacturing facilities is growing. To help meet this need, PortaFab has expanded its line of SteelSpan industrial wall panels. The new line extension features a ‘no profile’ smooth surface option which provides an easy to clean solution for use in environmental control applications and for medical, microprocessing, and nanotechnology manufacturing.

The Ontario Institute for Cancer Research has selected Diamond Schmitt Architects to design research laboratories for its new facility in the west tower of the MaRS phase two development under construction in Toronto. The project will provide wet and dry labs for genomics and bioinformatics research, conference rooms, interaction areas, a library, and core labs for microscopy, tissue culture, and bacterial culture. Occupancy is expected in fall of 2013.

Dartmouth College is planning to build the Williamson Translational Research Building on the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center campus in Lebanon, N.H. The facility will provide laboratories for multidisciplinary research in neuroscience, cancer, immunology, and infectious diseases. Dartmouth will also build the 120,000-sf North Campus Academic Center in Hanover.

The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) has awarded three contracts for the creation of pandemic influenza vaccines and chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) medical countermeasures for national emergency preparedness.

The University of Edinburgh opened the $85 million Scottish Centre for Regenerative Medicine in June of 2012. The facility provides advanced laboratories for stem cell research and can accommodate up to 250 scientists. The three-story, 95,800-sm project was built by Miller Construction and represents the first phase of the BioQuarter research campus. An adjacent $38 million biotech incubator was also completed.

Stony Brook University is planning to build the $194 million Medical and Research Translation (MART) facility in Stony Brook, N.Y. The eight-story, 250,000-sf teaching and research building will support the discovery of advanced cancer treatments and medical imaging technologies. The project will include a 300-seat auditorium and will accommodate up to 250 faculty members. A $230 million, 170-bed facility to house Stony Brook Children's Hospital will also be constructed.

Marshall University will break ground in fall of 2012 on the $50 million Applied Science Center in Huntington, W.V. The 140,000-sf facility will house the College of Information Technology and Engineering and its divisions of engineering, computer science, applied science and technology; research laboratories for mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, and bioengineering; the Departments of Mathematics and Computational Science; and a computer modeling and digital imaging/simulation resource facility.

The University of Alaska Fairbanks is constructing a $111 million engineering facility. Providing advanced laboratories, classrooms, and offices, the five-story, 117,000-sf project will link the existing Duckering and Bunnell buildings. Completion is expected in spring of 2018.  

Bosch initiated construction in June of 2012 on a 1.2 million-sf R&D center in Renningen, Germany. The $200 million project includes construction of 14 new buildings. Bosch will also build a $96 million, 409,000-sf production facility in Blaj, Romania, and a new manufacturing plant in Bidadi, India, will be constructed to replace Bosch's existing facility in Bangalore. The Bosch Group is a manufacturer of appliances, power tools, and automotive and machinery components.

Construction continues on a major expansion of King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Designed by Cannon Design, the project includes an 893,405-sf, 302-bed cancer center; an 11-story, 409,000-sf biotechnology research tower; a 205,000-sf emergency medicine facility; and a 194,000-sf utility plant. The project features an extensive underground tunnel network for vehicles, supply transport, and utilities. The cancer center is expected to reach completion by year-end 2013.

NASA opened its $25 million, 50,000-sf office building in late spring of 2012 in Mountain View, Calif. The facility is expected to attain LEED Platinum sustainable design certification and features Bloom Energy fuel cells, ventilation pumps, photovoltaic panels, a water recovery system, and advanced building controls. The building provides collaborative open offices and is located at the Ames Research Center at Moffett Field. The facility is reputedly the most environmentally advanced federal building in the nation. 

The $855 million Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago opened in June of 2012. The 23-story, 1.25 million-sf facility provides 288 single-patient rooms with a footprint of 290 sf each. Designed to foster translational research, Lurie Children's Hospital is located on the campus of Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine and is connected to Prentice Women's Hospital. Ground was broken on the project in April of 2008. LEED sustainable design certification will be sought for the hospital.

GenScript USA opened the first phase of its R&D campus in Nanjing, China, in June of 2012. Located in the JiangNing Science Park, the 765,000-sf project includes three five-story buildings and two two-story animal research facilities. The campus include a conference center, offices, and research laboratories with advanced equipment for gene synthesis, protein purification and characterization, antibody engineering, and drug assays. Ground was broken on the facility in 2009.