Research and Development

The Naval Surface Warfare Center initiated construction in October of 2008 on the $25 million Research Development and Acquisition and Test and Evaluation Consolidation Facility in Dahlgren, Va. The two-story, 58,000-sf R&D laboratory will provide combat systems certification and is slated for occupancy in June of 2010. The project, which will accommodate approximately 130 employees, will include offices, labs, and an anechoic chamber for audio component testing.

Cubist Pharmaceuticals opened its new 35,000-sf research facility in late September of 2008. Located at Cubist’s headquarters in Lexington, Mass., the laboratory building will support research and development of molecular disease treatments. The sustainably-designed project includes 50 additional fume hoods, NMR instrumentation, and 3D molecular modeling.

Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies (TPIMS) completed its $40 million, 103,000-sf headquarters in Port St. Lucie, Fla., in September of 2008. Built by Suffolk Construction in the Florida Center for Innovation, the project began construction in February of 2008 and was completed three months ahead of schedule. The LEED-certified facility is comprised of office space and seven biomedical research laboratories. The project developer was Port St. Lucie-based Core Communities. Occupancy is slated for November of 2008.

Pfizer is investing $3 million to expand its Animal Genetics unit in Kalamazoo, Mich. Twenty employees will be relocated to Building 300 from a site in Louisiana that will be closed. The new Animal Genetics unit will open in March of 2009. The project is part of Pfizer’s $50 million consolidation of its Veterinary Medicine Research and Development operations to the Kalamazoo campus. Researchers will be transferred from sites in Richland Township, Pa., and Sandwich, U.K.

Texas A&M University will begin construction in November of 2008 on a $104 million emerging technologies engineering building in College Station, Texas. The facility will house the departments of biomedical engineering and industrial and systems engineering as well as interdisciplinary research space. Housing 112 engineering faculty members, the project will support the creation of advanced medical devices and therapeutics. Construction is expected to reach completion in June of 2011.

Hammersmith Hospital will begin construction in April of 2009 on a £100 million cardiovascular research facility in London. The three-story translational research facility will be housed in a larger six-story building that will include a genomics center and an imaging laboratory. The project is part of the Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Facility and Academic Health Sciences Centre, the first academic medical center in the United Kingdom. The 13,000-sm project is slated for completion in 2011.

Sandia National Laboratories recognized five LEED-certified buildings in September of 2008.

Genzyme Corp. opened the $125 million Science Center in Framingham, Mass., on September 22, 2008. Designed by ARC/Architectural Resources Cambridge, the facility has attained LEED Gold sustainable design certification. The six-story, 180,000-sf building houses laboratories and offices united by a central atrium. The facility will house 350 employees engaged in cardiovascular, cancer, immunology, and neurology research.

Purdue University dedicated the $25 million Martin C. Jischke Biomedical Engineering Building in West Lafayette, Ind., on September 30, 2008. Created in partnership with the state of Indiana, the building houses the Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering. The four-story facility features biomedical R&D laboratories and instructional facilities. Designed to support industry partnerships with medical device and biotechnology companies, the 91,000-sf interdisciplinary project includes core labs, teaching labs, faculty offices, classrooms, and meeting space.

Tsinghua University is partnering with semiconductor manufacturer Rohm Co. to build the Tsinghua-Rohm Electronic Engineering Hall in Beijing, China. Designed to support collaborative development of electronic devices, the ¥2 billion R&D facility is slated for completion in April of 2011. The project will house an international exchange center for academic-industry partnerships, cleanrooms, shared research space, and a 300-seat auditorium.

Analytical Bio-Chemistry Laboratories opened its $15 million pharmaceutical laboratory in Missouri University’s Discovery Ridge Research Park in Columbia, Mo., in September of 2008. The 90,000-sf facility will initially house 210 employees with the potential to house a total of 500 employees in the next four years. The expansion and renovation project has enabled consolidation of ABC’s regional operations.

The University of Colorado Denver opened the $204 million Research 2 (R2) laboratory in Aurora in September of 2008. The 507,000-gsf facility is located on the Anschutz Medical Campus and houses flexible research laboratories and offices. Construction was completed in June of 2008. The 12-story building supports clinical and basic science research with laboratory configurations ranging from wet bench to instrument-oriented facilities. A full complement of research support spaces and core labs are designed to foster interaction and communication.

Florida State University dedicated the $55.8 million James E. King Jr. Life Sciences Teaching & Research Center in Tallahassee on September 12, 2008. The 181,000-sf facility was built by LLT Building Corp. and is expected to attain LEED sustainable design certification. Housing teaching and research space for FSU's Department of Biological Science, the project was designed by Elliott Marshall Innes of Tallahassee with Lord, Aeck & Sargent as architect of record.

The Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine will break ground in January of 2009 on a $115.2 million stem cell research facility in La Jolla, Calif. The Sanford Consortium, a nonprofit research group comprised of the Burnham Institute for Medical Research, Scripps Research Institute, the Salk Institute, and UC San Diego, received $43 million in May of 2008 from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM). The 130,907-sf, four-story building is slated for completion in December of 2010.

Pennsylvania State University is planning to construct the 275,600-sf Millennium Science Complex in University Park, Pa. Designed by Rafael Viñoly Architects, the interdisciplinary, collaborative facility will house research laboratories and offices for the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences and the Materials Research Institute. LEED sustainable design certification will be sought for the project, which will incorporate green roofs and storm water management.