Research and Development

Baker Hughes General Electric, a subsidiary of GE, is planning to build a £31 million Centre of Excellence in Montrose, Scotland. The company's existing facilities will be expanded and renovated to create a leading-edge R&D complex for the manufacture, testing, and assembly of subsea equipment for oil and gas extraction and production. Sited on 35 acres, the 430,000-sf project will offer sophisticated virtual reality tools and 3D printing suites to enable the development of new manufacturing processes and technologies.

North Dakota State University is engaged in a $28 million renovation and expansion of its health professions building in Fargo. The project includes construction of a six-story, 74,000-sf addition to Sudro Hall to provide collaborative learning environments for team-based healthcare education, and renovation of spaces in the existing building. Collocating all the school's health programs in a single location, the completed facility will include new and renovated laboratories for teaching, research, and clinical skills development.

16 Tech Community Corporation will break ground in fall of 2018 on the $30 million Advanced Research and Innovation Facility in Indianapolis. The Indiana Biosciences Research Institute will lease space in the five-story, 120,000-sf building, which represents the first phase of construction in the 16 Tech Innovation District. The 60-acre development will include a second office and research building, a 250-unit apartment complex, and renovated warehouse facilities.

Construction will begin in late 2018 on the £20 million Maritime Knowledge Hub in Birkenhead in the United Kingdom. Located in the Wirral Waters redevelopment, the collaborative maritime education and research facility is being created by a partnership of Liverpool John Moores University, Peel Land and Property, Mersey Maritime, and Wirral Council.

Rowan University and Rutgers University-Camden are building the Joint Health Sciences Center in Camden, N.J. Designed by HOK, the $70 million project comprises two joined buildings offering classrooms, laboratories, offices, and research space. Camden County College will also utilize the four-story, 95,000-sf complex, which will include a 30,000-sf simulation training center for Rowan’s School of Osteopathic Medicine and CCC’s allied health program.

Harvard University's Center for Climate Health and the Global Environment (C-CHANGE) has created the Healthy Buildings Program to study the effects of the built environment on health, productivity, and wellbeing. The nine foundations of a healthy building can optimize occupant health, preferably in a smoke-free environment with active design to promote movement.

Cardiff University will begin construction in September of 2018 on the £50 million Innovation Central facility in Wales in the United Kingdom. Designed by Hawkins\Brown to promote collaboration between academic and industry partners, the 129,167-sf project will include the SPARK social science research hub and a business incubator with shared spaces, labs, and serviced offices.

Marshall University broke ground in June of 2018 on a 49,722-sf facility for the School of Pharmacy in Huntington, Va. Strategically located on the Edwards School of Medicine's Fairfields Campus to promote interdisciplinary education, the three-story building will provide teaching, research, administrative, and communal spaces. Created in partnership with developer Signet, the $56 million project also includes construction of a five-story, 200-unit graduate student housing complex.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals opened a 170,000-sf R&D facility in San Diego in June of 2018. Although over 70 percent of the Torrey Pines center is dedicated to research, the project also features a 4,000-sf business incubator suite and a 1,500-sf learning lab for STEAM programs in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics. Alexandria Real Estate Equities oversaw construction of the leased site, which has attained LEED Gold sustainable design certification.

Montana State University Billings is planning to renovate an existing facility to create the 80,000-sf Yellowstone Science and Allied Health Building. Designed by Dowling Studio Architects, the $15 million project includes construction of a three-story, 30,000-sf addition providing 16 teaching labs, 11 research labs, classrooms, and a shared equipment core. Accommodating the growing College of Allied Health, the multidisciplinary project will feature an athletic training lab with sophisticated performance testing and measurement technologies.

Virginia Commonwealth University and VCU Health broke ground in June of 2018 on a $349 million outpatient facility in Richmond. Designed by HDR, the 16-story, 603,000-sf project will provide a consolidated location for VCU Massey Cancer Center's outpatient services, as well as housing diagnostic labs, imaging suites, a rehabilitation center, and clinical space for orthopedics, pulmonology, urology, and gynecology.

Williams College opened the $66 million South Science Building in June of 2018. Located in Williamstown, Mass., the 78,000-sf interdisciplinary teaching and research facility provides 30 laboratories, 31 faculty offices, a microscopy suite, and a machine shop with a design lab, 3D printers, and laser and plasma cutters. Designed by Payette to promote interaction and collaboration, the four-story, 78,000-sf building accommodates programs in biology, chemistry, and physics.

The University of Aberystwyth is planning to create VetHub 1, a human and animal health research facility in the United Kingdom. Located on the Penglais campus in Aberystwyth, the project includes the renovation and expansion of an existing 5,231-sf structure to provide three BSL-3 labs, two BSL-2 labs, and associated office spaces. The facility will support the development of new products, diagnostic tests, and strategies for the nation's agricultural, veterinary, and biotechnology industries. 

Washington State University broke ground in June of 2018 on the $66 million Plant Sciences Building in Pullman. Providing 15 wet labs, three dry labs, and multiple collaboration spaces, the four-story 82,476-sf facility will accommodate research programs in horticulture, plant biochemistry and pathology, and crop and soil science. The project team includes LMN Architects, laboratory design consultant Research Facilities Design (RFD), and design-build contractor Skanska.

Merck will begin construction in the third quarter of 2018 on a biologics facility in County Dublin, Ireland. Located on Merck's 33-acre campus in Swords, the project includes the renovation and expansion of an existing 341,000-sf structure to create a 470,000-sf facility offering laboratory, production, and warehouse space. The state-of-the-art pharmaceutical plant will manufacture protein therapeutics derived from mammalian cell cultures. Occupancy is expected in 2021.