Research and Development

Virginia Tech is planning to break ground in fall of 2021 on the first academic building on its Innovation Campus in Alexandria. Designed by SmithGroup, the 300,000-gsf facility will offer experiential learning environments, maker spaces, flexible multipurpose venues, and research and testing labs for the school's graduate programs in computer science and engineering. The sustainably designed structure will feature a façade with integrated photovoltaic panels, a rooftop solar array, and geothermal and sewage water energy exchange technologies.

Price Industries is significantly increasing production of its air filtration systems in response to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Instantly creating a negative-pressure isolation room, the company's fan filter unit can draw airborne virus out through a biosafety filter for expulsion through the building's exhaust vent or directly to the outside. The units can dramatically reduce airborne virus in healthcare environments such as nursing stations and temporary hospitals, and can even be used in hotel rooms that have been repurposed as care facilities.

New guidance has been released by the U.S. Department of the Treasury which makes Paycheck Protection Program loans available to companies with 500 or fewer employees, as well as to firms that fall below the size standards set by the Small Business Administration. Construction companies, whose status is generally determined by average annual income threshold and not by number of employees, will benefit from this amendment to the previous announcement, which required a business to meet both criteria to be eligible.

The International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) has assembled a task force to address the role of the built environment in reducing the impact of SARS-CoV-2 and other respiratory infections. Aiming to define the critical role that buildings, organizations, and communities play in infectious disease management, the work will take a broad approach in considering both new and recurring agents that can affect large populations.

Blinn College is planning to build the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Innovation Building on the RELLIS campus in Brenham, Texas. Designed by PBK Architects to accommodate programs in engineering, chemistry, physics, microbiology, geology, and health sciences, the 72,000-sf structure will offer 17,000 sf of laboratory space and a 3,000-sf innovation hub.

Novo Nordisk completed a $5.1 million tenant renovation and expansion project in March of 2020 in Fremont, Calif. In just four months, MAI Construction remodeled the subleased 44,000-sf facility to provide Asterias Biotherapeutics with leading-edge research, production, and office spaces to support the creation of innovative stem cell therapies. The four-phase project included the construction of new cGMP Grade B manufacturing labs, as well as a materials lift and canopy for the area's shipping and receiving area.

Hyundai Motor Company will break ground in October of 2020 on the Hyundai Mobility Global Innovation Center in Singapore (HMGICs). The 300,000-sf facility will be located on over ten acres in the Jurong Innovation District, an advanced manufacturing campus developed by JTC Corporation. Supported by funding from the Singapore Economic Development Board, the open innovation hub will accelerate the discovery of new sustainable mobility solutions.

The International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering has announced the 2020 Facility of the Year Awards category winners. The awards include:

The University of Nevada, Reno is renovating the Leifson Physics and Chemistry Buildings to provide leading-edge research labs, classrooms, collaboration rooms, conference areas, and office environments. Designed by Van Woert Bigotti Architects, the $23 million project will optimize utilization in the two structures, which were built in 1967, to provide additional programmatic space including 839 asf for physics and 1,779 asf for chemistry.

The University of Glasgow is planning to construct an £86 million facility for the Adam Smith Business School and the university's postgraduate-taught community (PGT) in the United Kingdom. Designed by Hassell to promote cross-pollination with industry and government stakeholders, the 125,000-sf building will be arranged in three interconnected stacks for teaching, research, and collaboration.

The Ohio State University and Central Ohio Technical College are constructing the $32 million John and Mary Alford Center for Science and Technology. Located on OSU's Newark campus, the 60,000-sf STEM building will allow both institutions to expand academic programming, increase enrollment, enhance student success, and better meet local workforce needs.

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution began construction in March of 2020 on a 50,000-sf innovation hub in Falmouth, Mass. Designed by DSK, the three-story building will provide offices, labs, and meeting spaces for new research programs on above-water and underwater autonomous vehicle and sensor technologies (AVAST). Supporting WHOI's Strategic Facility Assessment, the project will enable staff to be relocated from existing waterfront facilities in order to collocate investigators and enhance research synergies.

The Australian government has awarded AUD$220 million in federal funding to the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) for upgrades to its biocontainment research facilities in Geelong. Constructed 35 years ago, the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness (formerly the Australian Animal Health Laboratory) is a secure campus with four laboratory structures offering BSL-4 research space.

Federal financial measures have been approved in the past few weeks to shore up the economy during the COVID-19 pandemic, with direct monetary assistance and business loans totaling $5.5 trillion, and more support and flexibility for research universities and government contractors. The federal stimulus package—the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act—is intended to pump $2.2 trillion dollars into the economy, primarily in the healthcare and research sectors, and to provide emergency relief to institutions, businesses, and workers whose livelihoods have been impacted by the pandemic. The specifics of how it will be implemented are still evolving, and it is likely that additional stimulus bills will be considered in the coming months, including investments in infrastructure for the nation’s research enterprise.

VACUUBRAND is offering continuing education courses approved by the American Institute of Architects and Green Business Certification Inc. Providing engineers and designers with the skills to create sustainable, high-performance laboratories, each course is available as a general webinar, a private webinar, or as an on-demand learning experience. AIA members will receive one LU/HSW (Health-Safety-Welfare learning unit) for each one-hour course.