Research and Development

The University of Oregon began building the $65 million Lewis Integrative Science Building in Eugene in October of 2010. The five-story, 100,000-sf building will provide interdisciplinary research and teaching facilities including classrooms, 30,000 sf of laboratory space for life and materials sciences, and 46 faculty offices. Designed by THA Architecture and HDR to foster interaction and collaboration, the project will include shared analysis facilities, advanced imaging equipment, and conference rooms.

The Institute for Business & Home Safety celebrated the opening of the $27 million Insurance Center for Building Safety Research in October of 2010. Located in Chester, S.C., the multi-hazard research complex enables model structures to be tested in conditions resembling natural catastrophes to identify effective methods of minimizing risk and loss to homes and businesses. Designed by Odell Associates of Charlotte, N.C., the facility includes a 21,000-sf test chamber, a secondary research building, and a conference center.

Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake opened the $64 million Dr. William B. McLean Laboratory in October of 2010 in San Bernardino County, Calif. The 177,000-sf technology center houses 30 laboratories, including 50,000 sf of secured engineering labs, and 4,800 sf of high bay space. The general contractor for the project was Barnhart Construction of San Diego with Naval Facilities Engineering Command as construction manager. LEED gold sustainable design certification will be sought for the facility.

BASF broke ground in October of 2010 on a $50 million manufacturing plant in Elyria, Ohio. The facility will produce advanced cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries. The plant is expected to be fully operational in 2012. The project is supported by $24.6 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The University of California, Los Angles will begin construction in fall of 2011 on the $30 million Western Institute of Nanotechnology on Green Engineering and Metrology. Providing 35,000 sf of laboratory space on four floors, the facility will support research and instruction for the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science. The building will also house the Center on Functional Engineered Nano Architectonics and the Energy Frontier Research Center on Molecularly Engineered Energy Materials.

Colorado State University will break ground on a $69 million facility for the School of Biomedical Engineering in April of 2011. Located in Fort Collins, the 122,000-sf Engineering II facility will house multidisciplinary research laboratories and instructional space. LEED Gold sustainable design certification will be sought for the project. Completion is expected in fall of 2012.

Becton, Dickinson and Company opened the $59 million BD Biosciences - Advanced Bioprocessing AF2™ Production Facility in October of 2010 in Miami. The facility is the industry’s first fully dedicated, stand-alone “antibiotic-free” and “animal-free” facility for producing high-quality cell culture media and supplements that are used in the production of vaccines and biopharmaceuticals. BD invested more than $20 million in renovating 90,000 sf at the former IVAX Pharmaceuticals building in North Miami.

Algenol Biofuels opened its 40,000-sf R&D headquarters facility in October of 2010 in Lee County, Fla. Housing chemistry labs and six specialized growth chambers, the facility will support the creation of ethanol and other green chemicals from algae. A biorefinery will also be constructed at the site.

Ground was broken in October of 2010 on the $8 million Sustainable Energy Technology Center (SenTec) in Danville, Va. The 25,000-sf facility will promote the development of biofuels with research laboratories, support labs, graduate student research spaces, and faculty offices. The building is located on the campus of the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research. The lead design architect for the project is Dewberry with Lord, Aeck & Sargent as laboratory design architect and sustainability consultant.

Lawrence Technological University will begin construction in January of 2011 on a $1.6 million renovation of its life sciences research laboratories in Southfield, Mich. The completed facility will include a chemistry lab, a molecular and cell biology lab, and an instrumentation room. The project is supported by $1.3 million in funding from the National Science Foundation. Completion is expected in fall of 2011.

Binghamton University broke ground on the $30 million New York State Center of Excellence in Small Scale Systems Integration and Packaging (S3IP) in October of 2010. Housing laboratory space, offices, and a symposium hall, the 114,000-sf facility will connect the Biotechnology and Engineering buildings as part of the Innovative Technologies Complex. The center will promote collaborative research in microelectronics with industry partners. LEED sustainable design certification will be sought for the project.

The University of North Texas will begin construction on the Nanofabrication Analysis and Research Facility in November of 2010. Located in Denton at Discovery Park, the $6.4 million project will support research in nanotechnology and materials science with 10 laboratories housing advanced instrumentation. The project is supported by $1 million in funding from the National Science Foundation.

Clarian Health will break ground in November of 2010 on a $192 million research complex in Indianapolis. Occupying nearly six blocks, the five-building project includes construction of the Neuroscience Center of Excellence and administrative offices. Occupancy is expected in 2012. The project developer is Shiel Sexton.

SAFC completed a 50,000-sf expansion of its Jerusalem bioprocessing facility in October of 2010. The project houses cGMP fermentation suites for the production of recombinant proteins and small molecules. The expansion includes a 30,000-sf BSL-2 facility. 

The University of California, Los Angeles opened the 9,700-sf Integrated Systems Nanofabrication Cleanroom (ISNC) at the California Nanosystems Institute in October of 2010. Providing Class 100 and Class 1,000 research space for the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center and the David Geffen School of Medicine, the facility features two integrated bio-suite bays for work with biological samples. The ISNC houses $8 million in equipment, including an electron beam writer and an ASML optical stepper.