Research and Development

McLaughlin Research Institute is initiating a 15,000-sf expansion and renovation of its animal research facility in Great Falls, Mont. The project includes a 3,000-sf vivarium addition, a cagewash, and 9,500-sf of renovated laboratory space. An additional 3,000-sf will be constructed as shell space for future expansion. The project will enable a total of 8,000 cages to be housed in the building. The general contractor for the project is Sletten Construction. Completion is expected by summer of 2010.

Oregon Health & Science University will begin construction in February of 2010 on the Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Located in the Florida Center for Innovation research park in Tradition, the 98,000-sf laboratory is slated for completion in fall of 2011. The general contractor for the four-story building is Whiting-Turner Contracting Co. of Tampa.

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory was awarded $15.9 million in December of 2009 by the U.S. Department of Energy to build a new National User Facility for Net-Zero Energy Buildings. Supporting research in building systems integration and the design of net-zero energy buildings, the N-ZEB laboratory facilities will enable researchers from universities, private industry, and other government labs to develop advanced building systems and technologies.

Northrop Grumman Corporation opened the 156,000-sf Innovation Institute in Linthicum, Md., in December of 2009. The advanced technology center houses 450 engineers, researchers, and staff engaged in collaborative research and development of global defense electronics technologies. Featuring team research laboratories, modular offices, and a 175-seat conference center, the LEED-certified facility was built by Manekin Construction of Columbia. 

The National Center for Atmospheric Research will build a $66 million supercomputer facility in Cheyenne, Wyo. The 153,000-sf project will be constructed by Saunders Construction of Denver. Supporting advanced climate modeling, the computer will comprise more than 100,000 processors in a 24,000-sf area with a sub-floor ten feet deep to accommodate infrastructure and cooling needs. Occupancy is expected by year-end 2011.

Natural Resources Canada has awarded Nahanni Construction a $10.9 million contract to expand and renovate the Polar Continental Shelf Program facility in Iqaluit, Nunavut. The facility is located at Resolute Bay and is an important center for arctic research. The design-build project will include construction of a new laboratory, a kitchen and dining facility, and a social and health science research area. Existing lab space will transformed into an expanded office area. Completion is expected in March of 2011.

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia is building the $496 million Colket Translational Research Building on its South Campus. Slated for completion in 2010, the 450,000-sf, eleven-story facility will include four laboratory floors, administrative offices, a cafeteria, conference space, and a two-story lobby. Four below-grade floors will house infrastructure, laboratory support, and a central utility plant. Office floors are designed for ease of conversion to laboratory space, and the building is constructed to expand vertically to 23 stories to accommodate future growth.

Novartis opened a $250 million technical R&D center in Suzhou, China, in November of 2009. The 10,801-sm pharmaceutical research facility will also support the manufacturing of active pharmaceutical ingredients and intermediates. Construction began on the center in February of 2006. The facility is comprised of a 4,815-sm pilot plant and 5,986-sm of laboratories. Three additional production buildings, with a footprint of 9,682-sm each, are also located on the site.

Drexel University is planning to construct the $49.7 million Constantine Papadakis Integrated Sciences Building in Philadelphia. Slated for completion in June of 2011, the 138,000-sf facility will provide 39 research and teaching laboratories for biology, chemistry, and biomedical engineering. The construction manager for the project is Turner Construction Company. The facility will feature a five-story atrium with a biowall that will function as a natural air filter to remove airborne pollutants.

Babraham Bioscience Technologies will begin construction in January of 2010 on a bioincubator facility in Cambridge in the United Kingdom. Located on the Babraham Research Campus, the 8,800-sf building will house flexible laboratories, offices, cell culture suites, and CL2 biocontainment facilities. The project will support up to 16 early stage bioscience companies. Completion is expected by September of 2010.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals is initiating a $40 million expansion of its headquarters in Tarrytown, N.Y. The lease of an additional 131,000-sf building will accommodate expanded research and development operations. Regeneron occupies two other laboratory and office facilities at the site, for a total footprint of 390,000 sf. 

Texas A&M University dedicated the Mitchell Physics Buildings in College Station in December of 2009. The George P. Mitchell ’40 Physics Building and the George P. and Cynthia Woods Mitchell Institute for Fundamental Physics and Astronomy were designed by Michael Graves Design Group. Construction began on the $82.5 million project in 2006. The two facilities provide a total of over 197,000-sf of research and teaching laboratories, faculty offices, and lecture facilities.

The UK Centre for Medical Research and Innovation (UKCMRI) is planning to construct a £500 million biomedical research facility in London. The project will include a Category 3 biocontainment laboratory for the study of infectious diseases. Accommodating research on mice, rats, and ferrets, the facility will house 1,500 staff and is slated for completion in 2013. The project represents a partnership of the Medical Research Council, Cancer Research UK, The Wellcome Trust, and University College London.

The University of New South Wales broke ground in December of 2009 on the $125 million Tyree Energy Technologies Building (TETB) in Sydney, Australia. The facility will support teaching and research in energy policy, market analysis, photovoltaics, nanomaterials, carbon capture and storage, and oil and gas reserves. The sustainably designed building will accommodate 300 engineering students and is slated for completion in 2012.

The U.S. Department of Energy is building the $95 million Chemical and Materials Sciences Building at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. Ground was broken on the 160,000-sf project in June of 2009 with completion expected in May of 2011. The three-story facility is being constructed by McCarthy Building Companies. Supported by $60.6 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the research facility will be built to attain LEED Gold sustainable design certification. Cannon Design of St.