Research and Development

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory will begin construction in spring of 2011 on the 175,000-sf Energy Systems Integration Facility (ESIF) in Golden, Colo. The project team includes architectural firm SmithGroup and general contractor JE Dunn. Housing labs and offices for up to 250 researchers and support staff, the $135 million facility will support megawatt-scale testing of all components and strategies for deploying renewable energy and other energy-efficiency technologies into the electric grid.

Nova Southeastern University Oceanographic Center will begin construction in November of 2010 on the $34 million Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Ecosystem Science in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The 86,000-sf facility will be designed and built by Moss Miller, LLC. The project is supported by $15 million in federal stimulus funding and will double the footprint of the existing NSU Oceanographic Center. Completion is expected in December of 2011. LEED Silver sustainable design certification will be sought for the five-story facility.

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia dedicated the $504 million Colket Translational Research Building in June of 2010. Located on the South Campus, the 12-story facility provides four laboratory floors, administrative offices, a cafeteria, conference space, and a two-story lobby. Four below-grade floors house infrastructure, laboratory support, and a central utility plant.

Cargill is planning to build a $14.7 million R&D facility in Wichita, Kan. The building will house research labs, offices, and product development space. Cargill is an international producer and marketer of food, agricultural, financial, and industrial products and services.

Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) opened the Visdec Electronic Decision Theater in June of 2010. The facility features 240 degrees of arced screens to support advanced visualization and simulation for technology-enhanced decision making. Huazhong University is located in Wuhan, China.

The University of Minnesota is planning to construct the $200 million Cancer/Cardiovascular Research Facility in Minneapolis. Construction will begin on the project in August of 2011 with completion slated for June of 2013. Housing research laboratories with advanced instrumentation, the project is part of Phase 2 of the University’s master plan for the Biomedical Discovery District. The architects for Phase 2 are Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects of Seattle and Architectural Alliance of Minneapolis.

Ohio State University Medical Center broke ground on a $1 billion expansion in June of 2010. Located in Columbus, Ohio, the 17-story tower will house the academic medical center's new critical care and cancer hospitals. Completion is expected in 2014. The 276-bed Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital will occupy seven floors and the 144-bed critical care hospital will occupy three floors. The tower will also house laboratory and office space. The project includes completion of three floors in the existing biomedical research tower and electrical upgrades.

Baylor College of Medicine will build out three floors in the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute (NRI) in Houston to accommodate translational research. The project is supported by $14.9 million in federal stimulus funding and will include research laboratories, offices, and the NMR Metabolomic Core. Completion is expected in spring of 2012.

Colorado State University will build an imaging facility for the study of BSL-3 pathogens and select agents in Fort Collins. Located in the Judson M. Harper Research Complex, the facility will part of the Infectious Disease Research Center sited adjacent to the Rocky Mountain Regional Biocontainment Laboratory on the Foothills Campus. The project is supported by $6 million in federal stimulus funding and will support biomedical research using animal models. LEED certification will be sought for the facility.

Boston University will renovate 6,700 sf of research and support space in the Metcalf Center for Science and Engineering. The project is supported by $5.8 million in federal stimulus funding and will provide four laboratory modules for translational synthetic and medicinal chemistry. Completion is expected in early 2012.

The National Center for Atmospheric Research broke ground on the $70 million NCAR-Wyoming Supercomputing Center in Cheyenne on June 15, 2010. The 153,000-sf project will be constructed by Saunders Construction of Denver. Supporting advanced climate modeling, the facility will support research in weather, oceanography, air pollution, space weather, computational science, energy production, and carbon sequestration.

The University of Massachusetts Lowell broke ground on the $70 million Emerging Technologies and Innovation Center (ETIC) on June 8, 2010. Designed by CUH2A, the 84,000-sf lab and office facility will support research, development, and manufacturing of products in the nanotechnology, plastics, biotechnology, and electro-optics fields. LEED Silver sustainable design certification will be sought for the facility.

Imec opened its new 300mm cleanroom facility in June of 2010 in Leuven, Belgium. The 10,000-sm project includes a clean processing area of 1,200 sm and 1,600 sm of laboratories for research on biomedical electronics and silicon and organic solar cells. Additionally, Imec will begin construction in fall of 2010 on a 16-story office building designed by Austrian firm Baumschlager-Eberle. The completed Leuven research campus will provide 18,000 sm of cleanroom, laboratory, and office space.

Boise State University will construct the 9,300-sf Biomedical Research Vivarium in Boise, Idaho. The animal housing facility will support multidisciplinary research combining molecular, cellular, biophysical, and biochemical methods. The project is supported by $3.9 million in federal stimulus funding.

Newcastle University has selected ISG to construct the £7.1 million Translational Research Building in the United Kingdom. Housing research space, clinical facilities, and a business incubator, the four-story project will link the Henry Wellcome Biogerontology Building and the Clinical Ageing Research Unit. Completion is expected in summer of 2011.