President Barack Obama pledged to direct three percent of the United States’ gross domestic product to scientific research and development at the annual meeting of the National Academy of Sciences in April of 2009. The $420 billion in funding will support research in areas such as the space program, sustainable energy, software development, and advanced prosthetics.
Imperial College London, in partnership with Imperial College Healthcare NHS, broke ground on a £99 million biomedical research facility in April of 2009. Slated for completion in late 2011, the six-story building will be part of the planned Academic Health Science Center in London. Housing 450 researchers, the facility will provide laboratories for translational research in cardiovascular disease, arthritis, diabetes, and obesity.
St. Andrews Biological Station will begin construction in May of 2009 on an $18 million wet lab facility in St. Andrews, N.B., Canada. The 2,895-sm project will be built by Maricon Construction Management of Saint John. The marine research and development facility will consolidate the Biological Station’s laboratory facilities and will house freshwater and saltwater labs. A 4,500-sf science building housing offices, analytical labs, a computer center, and a library, will also be constructed at the site. Completion is expected in 2012.
South Dakota State University is building the $51 million Avera Health and Science Center in Brookings, S.D. Created in partnership with Avera Health, the 144,000-sf facility is comprised of 96,000-sf of new construction and 48,000-sf of renovated space. Housing the College of Pharmacy and the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, the center will provide classrooms, teaching and research laboratories, and faculty offices. Construction began on the Avera Health and Science Center in June of 2008. The facility will open in fall of 2010.
Wayne State University's College of Engineering opened the $28 million Marvin I. Danto Engineering Development Center (EDC) in Detroit in April of 2009. The 82,500-sf facility provides research, development, and engineering facilities to support discoveries in alternative energy, nanotechnology, biotechnology, smart sensors, and advanced propulsion. Designed to foster industry partnerships, the three-story multidisciplinary facility features modular labs and group research areas. LEED Silver certification will be sought for the project.
The University of Utah broke ground in April of 2009 on the $130 million James L. Sorenson Molecular Biotechnology Building in Salt Lake City. Anchoring the University’s new Interdisciplinary Quadrangle, the 200,000-sf research facility will feature advanced imaging and nanotechnology laboratories and a 20,000-sf nanofabrication suite. Comprised of five stories, one below grade, the facility will house flexible open labs and four specialty core labs for small animal imaging, biomedical microscopy, engineering microscopy, and nanofabrication.
Pfizer dedicated its newly renovated laboratory and office facility in Kalamazoo, Mich., in April of 2009. The 780,000-sf project will serve as the global headquarters for Pfizer’s animal genetics and veterinary medicine R&D operations. Housing 680 employees, the $75 million project will consolidate staff from Richland Township, Pa., and Sandwich, U.K.
The University of British Columbia will begin construction in mid-2010 on the $75 million Earth Systems Science Building in Vancouver. Funded by $37.5 million from the Government of British Columbia, the 14,570-sm facility will house technology-rich teaching and research labs, classrooms, lecture halls, seminar rooms, and a museum.
The University of Kansas will break ground in summer of 2009 on a 20,000-sf bioscience incubator in Lawrence. Supported by $8 million from the Lawrence-Douglas County Bioscience Authority, the business incubator will house wet laboratories for life sciences research. Occupancy is expected in 2010.
The University of Chicago dedicated the renovated Searle Chemistry Laboratory on April 20, 2009. The $49 million project will support cross-disciplinary collaborative research with advanced laboratories and instrumentation. The Chemistry Department, the Computation Institute, and the Tri-Institutional Center for Chemical Methods and Library Development will be housed in the 85,000-gsf facility. The five-story building will include suites for NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry as well as cleanroom facilities.
The University of the Pacific broke ground on the $12 million John T. Chambers Technology Center in April of 2009. Located in Stockton, Calif., the 24,000-sf facility will house the School of Engineering and Computer Science. The building will include seven research and teaching laboratories, faculty offices, classrooms, conference rooms, and study areas. LEED certification for sustainable design will be sought for the project.
The University of Washington broke ground on the $36.9 million Center for Urban Waters in Tacoma, Wash., in April of 2009. The three-story multidisciplinary research facility will house water and environmental science laboratories for the University and the city of Tacoma. LEED Platinum certification will be sought for the 51,205-sf waterfront facility. The Center for Urban Waters is being developed in collaboration with Puget Sound Partnership.
Osaka University will begin construction in March of 2010 on a nanotechnology business incubator in Osaka, Japan. The construction cost of the five-story building is estimated at over one billion yen. Housing nanotechnology laboratories, the facility will provide access to equipment and instrumentation as well as promoting collaboration with University researchers and engineers. The nanotechnology incubator will house up to 24 companies.
The United States Air Force has awarded The Butt Construction Co. a $36 million contract to expand the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. The design/build project includes 90,000-sf of new construction and 50,000-sf of renovation. Construction will begin in early summer of 2009 with completion slated for April of 2011. Design partners for the project include Edge and Tinney Architects, Heapy Engineering, LJB Inc., and Acoustical Systems.
Montana State University is planning to construct three new facilities to house the Northern Agricultural Research Center in Havre, Mont. The $1.8 million project will begin construction in summer of 2009 with the first facility slated for completion in early 2010. The completed Northern Agricultural Research Center will house offices, laboratories, meeting rooms, a livestock research facility, a calving barn, and a chemical handling facility.
