Research and Development

Bluebird Bio opened a 125,000-sf gene and cell therapy manufacturing facility in March of 2019 in Durham, N.C. Representing an $80 million investment, the project is bluebird's first wholly owned facility and will support the production of lentiviral vector for clinical and commercial applications. The building, which is now substantially complete and undergoing equipment commissioning, provides multiple manufacturing suites, quality-control testing labs, and warehouse space.

Kent State University will begin construction in April of 2019 on the $50 million Design Innovation Hub in Kent, Ohio. Designed by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, the 68,000-sf project will feature two maker spaces, one housing 3D printing, laser cutting, and digital tool technologies, with a wood and metal shop offering space for prototyping and model building.

Auburn University will break ground in spring of 2019 on the $83 million Advanced Classroom and Laboratory Complex (ACLC) in Auburn, Ala. The 151,000-sf facility will provide five lecture halls housing between 100 and 300 seats each, six Engaged Active Student Learning (EASL) rooms, and 20 instructional spaces that can function as classrooms or labs to meet changing programmatic needs. LEED Silver sustainable design certification will be sought for the project, which will be built by Rabren General Contractors. Completion is expected in summer of 2021.

Inova Health System will open the 342,000-sf Schar Cancer Institute in May of 2019 in Fairfax, Va. Designed by Wilmot Sanz to provide comprehensive cancer care services in a single location, the patient-centric facility offers 124 exam rooms, 54 infusion chairs, diagnostic suites, advanced radiation therapy modalities, and a genetic counseling clinic.

Roads filled with driverless cars, ethical decisions left up to smart machines, and robots that help paralyzed patients walk again sound like elements of a best-selling sci-fi thriller, but these are just a few of the research projects planned at the University of Michigan’s new Ford Motor Company Robotics Building. Scheduled to open in early 2020 at the school’s main campus in Ann Arbor, it is the university’s first public-private facility partnership. The collaboration offers insight into facility planning and industry partnership models that are emerging to support artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics innovation, recruit top talent, and prepare new graduates with the skills needed to thrive in this burgeoning industry.

The Milwaukee School of Engineering is building the $34 million Dwight and Dian Diercks Computational Science Hall in Milwaukee. Designed by Uihlein/Wilson - Ramlow/Stein Architects to accommodate programs in artificial intelligence, cloud computing, cybersecurity, and robotics, the 64,000-sf facility will provide technology-rich classrooms, teaching and research labs, a 256-seat auditorium, 32 faculty and staff offices, a business incubator, and a data center with a GPU-accelerated supercomputer.

Stanford University opened the $107 million Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Biology Research Building in March of 2019 in Palo Alto, Calif. Designed by Flad Architects and Ennead Architects to promote collaboration and interaction, the 133,000-sf facility provides wet biochemistry labs, dry computational labs, hybrid wet/dry research areas, and classrooms and offices for the Department of Biology.

Merck opened the first M Lab™ Collaboration Center in Europe in March of 2019. Located in Molsheim, France, the facility provides biopharmaceutical customers with a shared, exploratory environment where they can work with Merck scientists and engineers to accelerate the manufacture of new therapies. The 43,000-sf facility offers advanced simulation technologies in a non-GMP environment for end-to-end process development from pre-clinical through full-scale production.

The University of Groningen will begin construction in summer of 2019 on the 690,000-sf Feringa Building in the Netherlands. The $285 million facility will provide labs, cleanrooms, lecture halls, classrooms, and offices to support science and engineering programs. Specialized laboratories, located entirely on the north face of the building to mitigate weather conditions, will accommodate research in materials science, nanotechnology, chemical engineering, and astronomy.

Eisai is building the $100 million Center for Genetics Guided Dementia Discovery (G2D2) in Cambridge, Mass. Sited in the newly constructed Alewife Research Center, the 50,000-sf neuroscience facility will support exploratory drug research on next-generation dementia therapeutics. Featuring numerous interaction zones and huddle areas, the center will provide open offices, a collaboration hub, flexible meeting rooms, and multidisciplinary open labs for the study of biology, chemistry, and automation.

Marquette University opened the $24 million Athletic and Human Performance Research Center in March of 2019 in Milwaukee. Featuring 5,400 sf of core research labs for the study of human performance, the 46,000-sf facility provides strength and conditioning facilities for the department of athletics, as well as locker rooms and support areas for the school's golf and lacrosse programs.

The University of Texas at El Paso is constructing the $85 million Interdisciplinary Research Building. Designed by Perkins+Will, the 150,000-gsf project will provide collaborative research labs, a vivarium, imaging suites, core labs, a visualization suite, conference rooms, an atrium, an auditorium, and academic and administrative offices. Housing teams from multiple colleges, the flexible facility will be able to adapt with ease to accommodate changing research programs.

Vermeulens has released its market outlook report for the fourth quarter of 2018. Key points include:

Florida Polytechnic University is planning to build the Applied Research Center in Lakeland. The two-story, 85,000-sf facility will provide teaching and research labs, student design spaces, conference rooms, faculty offices, and administrative space. The ARC was designed by HOK with the goal of creating a dynamic, functional, and flexible facility that will promote innovation, entrepreneurship, collaboration, and connectivity. Construction will begin in August of 2019 and completion is expected in fall of 2021.

Arizona State University and Wexford Science+Technology broke ground in March of 2019 on a $77 million research building on the Phoenix Biomedical Campus. The public-private project will be owned by Wexford and is being created in partnership with Ventas and the city of Phoenix. Half of the seven-story, 225,000-sf facility will house research labs for ASU's Biodesign Institute, the College of Health Solutions, and the College of Nursing and Health Innovation.