Research and Development

The University of Texas at Austin broke ground in October of 2019 on the $168 million Gary L. Thomas Energy Engineering Building. Designed as a hub for energy-related education, research, and innovation, the 184,300-gsf building will feature leading-edge labs and classrooms, collaboration environments, and student project spaces. The six-story multidisciplinary facility will house the Cockrell School's mechanical, chemical, and petroleum engineering programs.

Hyundai Construction Equipment began building the $64 million Reliability Assessment Center in September of 2019 in Yongin, South Korea. Located on a 430,550-sf site at the Mabuk-ri Research Institute in the Gyeonggi Province, the technology-rich facility will feature advanced measurement suites, simulators, and a large laboratory for the testing of equipment in temperatures ranging from 176°F to minus-40°F. The project will include research space for sustainable product development and the creation of innovative noise reduction technologies.

Texas Tech University opened the $77 million Experimental Sciences Building II in October of 2019 in Lubbock, Texas. Comprising four stories and a basement level, the 117,000-gsf facility provides collaborative environments for interdisciplinary research including four general wet labs, three core instrumentation suites, two synthetic labs, a vivarium, a BSL-2 lab, conference rooms, and offices for researchers and principal investigators.

Marshall University opened Stephen J. Kopp Hall in September of 2019 in Huntington, Va. Designed by Perkins+Will and Edward Tucker Architects, the 49,500-sf building offers instructional spaces, administrative offices, pharmacological labs, and research facilities for the School of Pharmacy. Stephen J. Kopp Hall is strategically sited in a new health sciences precinct to support the growth of interdisciplinary education programs.

Katerra is constructing the $40 million Catalyst Building in Spokane, Wash. The five-story, 150,000-sf facility will accommodate leased space for Eastern Washington University's programs in computer science, electrical engineering, and visual communication design. Comprising two wings connected by a light-filled atrium, the collaborative $40 million building will provide dry labs, offices, classrooms, and study spaces.

Florida Polytechnic University broke ground in September of 2019 on the $40.6 million Applied Research Center in Lakeland. Designed by HOK as a hub for innovation and discovery, the 85,000-sf facility will provide teaching and research labs, student design spaces, conference rooms, faculty offices, and administrative space. The two-story building will feature a multistory atrium illuminated by natural light to encourage interaction between faculty, students, and industry partners.

Swarthmore College opened the $120 million Maxine Frank Singer '52 Hall in September of 2019 in Swarthmore, Pa. Designed by Ballinger to accommodate programs in biology, engineering, and psychology, the 160,000-sf facility provides flexible classrooms, labs, and common spaces to support enhanced pedagogical experiences linked to environmental sustainability. The interdisciplinary building comprises a lab wing, a garden pavilion containing departmental offices, and a transparent three-story commons.

Mayo Clinic is planning to build a $233 million integrated oncology facility in Jacksonville, Fla. Supporting the company's Proton Beam Therapy Program, the 140,000-sf building will feature a two-gantry proton radiotherapy system which can provide precision dosing with minimal toxicity to healthy tissue. The center will offer a full spectrum of cancer treatment options, including chemotherapy, immunotherapy, CAR-T cell therapy, gamma knife radiosurgery, and traditional radiotherapy. Completion is expected in late 2023.

North Carolina State University broke ground on the $160 million Plant Sciences Building in Raleigh in September of 2019. Designed by Flad Architects, the five-story, 184,000-sf facility will allow academic, government, and industry researchers to develop innovative solutions for global agricultural challenges. Located on the Centennial Campus, the building will house growth chambers, environmental rooms, core instrumentation suites, and labs for genotyping, spectrometry, ag-bio engineering, and chemical and soils analysis.

The University of Oklahoma opened the 75,500-sf Gallogly Hall in late September of 2019 in Norman. Designed by Page Southerland Page to house the Stephenson School of Biomedical Engineering, the facility provides technology-rich classrooms and teaching labs, a large lecture hall, a maker space, faculty and graduate student offices, interactive learning venues, and a rooftop terrace.

Ford Motor Company is planning a comprehensive redevelopment of its research campus in Dearborn, Mich. Designed by Snøhetta to promote collaboration and innovation, the master plan for the Research & Engineering Center will create an integrated network of empowered workplaces, state-of-the-art labs, advanced production facilities, and inspiring meeting spaces. By significantly increasing building density, Ford will be able accommodate over 20,000 employees at the site and consolidate other Michigan locations.

Arizona State University is planning to build the $192 million Interdisciplinary Science and Technology Building 7 (ISTB7) in Tempe. Designed by Architekton and Grimshaw, the 258,000-gsf facility will provide research labs for biological and life sciences, sustainability, and engineering, as well as offering dry labs for programs in computing, cybersecurity, and robotics. In addition to public outreach and exhibit spaces, ISTB7 will include classrooms and a conference center with a 450-seat presentation hall.

Mayo Clinic opened the  $32.4 million Discovery and Innovation Building in late August of 2019 in Jacksonville, Fla. Developed in collaboration with Lung Biotechnology PBC, a subsidiary of United Therapeutics Corporation, the 75,000-sf facility features three ex-vivo lung perfusion (EVLP) suites to test and prepare lungs for transplantation. The three-story building also includes collaborative biomedical research space, an automated stem cell manufacturing hub, and a life science incubator with wet labs and co-working space.

Planning for the new Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital (JHACH) Research and Education Building in St. Petersburg, Fla., took place before all the building users were identified, and used strategies like identifying the business and design drivers to support collaboration, innovation, and communication. “The vision was to create a state-of-the-art space for pediatric health research and education, in a building that would draw people out of their offices and into the collaborative areas, to teach, work, and communicate,” says Roberta Alessi, executive vice president and chief operating officer at JHACH.

Pennsylvania State University is planning to construct the $98.5 million Animal, Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences Building in University Park. Designed by HOK, the 105,000-sf facility will provide the College of Agricultural Sciences with research labs, a general-purpose classroom, faculty offices, seminar rooms, and a state-of-the-art vivarium.