Research and Development

Pacific Northwest National Lab is planning to build a $90 million energy sciences research building in Richland, Wash. Designed by Kirksey Architecture, the collaborative facility will provide between 110,000 and 145,000 sf of flexible lab and office space to support fundamental research in chemistry, materials science, and computing. Accommodating advanced instrumentation including next-generation NMR and electron microscopy devices, the project will enable the development of new energy and transportation technologies.

College of the Atlantic will begin construction in spring of 2019 on the $13 million Center for Human Ecology in Bar Harbor, Maine. Designed by GO Logic and Susan T. Rodriguez to accommodate the school's unique interdisciplinary curriculum, the two-story, 29,000-sf building will provide science labs, flexible lecture halls, faculty offices, art and design studios, and a teaching greenhouse.

Iowa State University is building the $84 million Student Innovation Center in Ames. Comprising one basement level and four stories above grade, the 140,000-sf facility will provide an inclusive environment for multidisciplinary collaboration across the university. Designed by KieranTimberlake and Substance Architecture to promote interactive learning and experimentation, the center will offer an auditorium, classrooms, meeting rooms, fabrication areas, staff offices, and a café.

Global life science company Promega is constructing a $190 million research and development center on its existing campus in Fitchburg, Wis. Offering laboratories with sophisticated infrastructure to support the creation of innovative bioscience products and technologies, the three-story, 270,000-sf facility will enable the consolidation of operations currently located in three separate buildings. Ground was broken on the project in July of 2018 and occupancy is expected in fall of 2020. 

GKN Aerospace is planning to build the £32 million Global Technology Centre in Bristol in the United Kingdom. The 108,000-sf facility will accommodate 300 engineers engaged in collaborative research on additive manufacturing, advanced composites, and next-generation aircraft production. The public-private project is supported by £15 million in government funding and is slated for occupancy in 2020.

Ryerson University opened the Centre for Urban Innovation in January of 2018 in Toronto. Designed by Moriyama & Teshima and ERA Architects, the CAD$46 million project included the renovation and expansion of an existing structure to create a 40,000-sf facility providing wet and dry research labs, fabrication suites, a maker space, and offices for business incubation and commercialization.

Merck began construction in January of 2019 on a $300 million pharmaceutical formulation and process development facility in Rahway, N.J. Designed for maximum flexibility, the Formulation Laboratory Experimental (FLEx) Center will feature modular cleanrooms and cGMP manufacturing suites to support multiple modalities including large and small molecule, sterile, and oral solid-dosage products.

Cranfield University began construction in January of 2019 on the Digital Aviation Research and Technology Centre (DARTeC) in Cranfield in the United Kingdom. Designed by Burrell Foley Fischer, the £65 million project will provide technology-rich laboratory spaces adjoining a live aerodrome with a hangar, a 737-400 aircraft, an intelligent movement area, and a remote air traffic control center with next-generation radar systems.

Brammer Bio is developing two gene therapy manufacturing facilities in Massachusetts. The company will build out 35,000 sf in an existing 50,000-sf structure in Lexington to create a cGMP manufacturing and quality control operations center. Additionally, Brammer will renovate 8,000 sf in its 66,000-sf commercial cGMP plant in Cambridge to create new production suites to support manufacturing capacity expansion. DPS Group is providing architectural and engineering services for both projects, which are slated for completion in mid-2019.

Eastern Michigan University opened the renovated and expanded Strong Hall in Ypsilanti in January of 2019. Designed by Stantec, the $40 million project creates flexible teaching and research labs, classrooms, and lecture halls for STEM education including programs in geology, geography, physics, and astronomy. Featuring internal glass walls to put science on display, the 80,700-sf facility provides an atrium, a 200-seat auditorium, a maker space, a machine shop, a laser lab, faculty offices, conference rooms, and huddle spaces.

The University of Cambridge broke ground in January of 2019 on a £300 million expansion of the Cavendish Laboratory in the United Kingdom. The project includes construction of the 355,000-sf Ray Dolby Centre to provide the department of physics with additional laboratories, cleanrooms, lecture halls, offices, and workshops. A basement level with advanced vibration and EMI mitigation technologies will accommodate sensitive instrumentation.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory is planning to build the Translational Research Capability project in Oak Ridge, Tenn. Located on ORNL’s main campus, the three-story laboratory and office building will provide between 80,000 and 115,000 gsf of space to support growing research programs in materials science and computing. A request for qualifications will be released in April of 2019 for the design-build project, which has an estimated construction cost of $58 million. Work will begin on the facility in early 2020 with completion expected by December of 2022. 

Capital One opened the Tech Incubator at the University of Maryland in College Park in November of 2018. Supporting collaborative research in data science, machine learning, and AI, the flexible 7,500-sf facility features 32 sit-to-stand desks in an open office area that can be converted into a meeting venue. Located in UMD’s Discovery District in a mixed-use development called the Diamondback Garage, the facility provides laboratories, a conference room, a lounge, a kitchen, and a game room.

Montana State University opened the $53 million Norm Asbjornson Hall in January of 2019 in Bozeman. Designed by ZGF Architects and A&E Architects with Research Facilities Design (RFD) as laboratory design consultant, the three-story, 110,000-sf facility houses both the College of Engineering and the Honors College. LEED Gold sustainable design certification will be sought for the project, which provides 17 teaching labs, 10 classrooms, offices, and a presentation hall.

Fujifilm Cellular Dynamics is creating a stem cell manufacturing center in Madison, Wis. Located in the University Research Park, the $21 million project involves the renovation of 31,500 sf in a facility near the company's existing lab and office building. The completed biomanufacturing plant will meet the requirements of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Completion is expected by March of 2020.