Research and Development

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.

Smart Cells International opened its cord blood stem cell facility in London in March of 2009. The advanced processing and storage laboratory will house stem cells from donors and families in a GMP-certified facility with advanced monitoring systems for air pressure, air particle count, and liquid nitrogen level in the tanks. The building also features backup power generation and a sophisticated air handling system.

Oklahoma State University will officially break ground on the Institute for Agricultural Biosciences on May 1, 2009. Located in Ardmore, the facility will support research on agricultural energy sources in collaboration with the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation. The building will house administrative space, traditional and controlled environmental laboratories, greenhouses, and conference rooms for the OSU Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. LEED certification for sustainable design will be sought for the project.

Brandeis University celebrated the opening of the $154 million Carl J. Shapiro Science Center in Waltham, Mass., in April of 2009. Designed by Payette of Boston, the 175,000-sf project broke ground in spring of 2006. The facility features interdisciplinary research labs, a science commons, classrooms, seminar rooms, conference rooms, and a café. The Shapiro Science Center will officially be dedicated in fall of 2009 and represents the first phase of the Science Complex Renewal Project.

The U.S. Forest Service will break ground in April of 2009 on a 21,700-sf headquarters for the Rocky Mountain Research Station in Fort Collins, Colo. Supported by $1.3 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the two-story building will house laboratories and offices for environmental science and climate change research. Utilizing solar power for electricity and water heating, the collaborative and flexible research facility will feature an open laboratory plan. The general contractor for the project is Greenleaf Construction.

The University of Waterloo is building the $160 million Mike and Ophelia Lazaridis Quantum-Nano Centre (QNC) in Waterloo, Ontario. Housing research and instruction in quantum information technology and nanotechnology, the 280,000-sf project broke ground in June of 2008 and is slated for occupancy in early 2011. Designed by KPMB Architects of Toronto, the five-story facility will include a 10,000-sf fabrication cleanroom, a metrology suite, teaching and research labs, seminar rooms, and faculty offices.

Idaho Technology celebrated the opening of its new $8.5 million R&D facility in Salt Lake City in April of 2009. Located in the University of Utah Research Park, the 41,000-sf project houses laboratories for the development of infectious disease and biological warfare testing solutions. Clinical trials will begin in mid-2009 on the technology, which will be released as kits for the detection of viruses, bacteria, and select agents in 2010.

The University of Virginia broke ground on two new buildings in Charlottesville in April of 2009. The six-story, 100,000-sf Information Technology Engineering Building will house laboratories, an auditorium, and workrooms for teaching and research in computer science and engineering. Designed to support collaborative research and distance education, the sustainably designed facility is slated for occupancy in fall of 2011.

Tufts University dedicated the $33.7 million New England Regional Biosafety Laboratory on March 30, 2009. Sited on 5.4 acres in North Grafton, Mass., the 41,000-sf project provides 649-sf of BSL-2 space and 8,480-sf of BSL-3 space for zoonotic disease research. The secure facility was designed by Flad Architects and includes laboratories, a vivarium, an insectary, and support space. Construction began on the laboratory in September of 2007.

The University of Edinburgh has selected Miller Construction to build the £54 million Scottish Centre for Regenerative Medicine at the university's BioQuarter site in Edinburgh. The three-story, 8,900-sm project is slated for completion in mid-2011. The facility represents the first phase of the planned £600 million, 130,000-sm BioQuarter research campus.

Washington State University’s Board of Regents approved the schematic design for the $35 million School for Global Animal Health in Pullman, Wash., in late March of 2009. The 47,000-sf facility will be sited adjacent to the Veterinary Teaching Hospital and will accommodate 12 to 15 scientists. Housing research laboratories for the study of zoonotic diseases, emerging pathogen detection, and vaccine development, the facility is funded in part by a $25 million donation from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) is constructing the $35 million Advanced Light Source User Support Building in Berkeley, Calif. The 30,928-gsf project will house labs, offices, conference rooms, and experiment assembly space for advanced physics research. LBNL was awarded $115.8 million from the Department of Energy in April of 2009 as part of the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Ferring Pharmaceuticals opened its biopharmaceutical research facility in San Diego in April of 2009. Designed by Kornberg Associates, the 38,000-sf project transformed an existing single-story structure into a two-story laboratory and research office complex. The building includes a video conferencing room and an interstitial floor for HVAC equipment. Housing organic, peptide, and analytical chemistry labs, the facility features mobile workbenches and cabinets that connect to a horizontal utility umbilical for maximum flexibility.

The Health Protection Agency is constructing the £12 million Influenza Resource Centre (IRC) in Potters Bar in the United Kingdom. Part of the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control, the laboratory will support influenza vaccine research and development, production, and standardization. Occupancy is expected in early 2010.

The University of Albany opened a $150 million expansion of the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) in late March of 2009. Located in Albany, N.Y., the 350,000-sf project includes the NanoFab East Office and Laboratory Building and the NanoFab Central Cleanroom Building. Bringing the total footprint of CNSE to over 800,000 sf, the expansion will support industry partnerships with companies including IBM, International Sematech, and Vistec Lithography.