Research and Development

The University of Manitoba is planning to build the Smartpark Innovation Hub in Winnipeg. Designed by Cibinel Architecture to foster collaborative partnerships between industry, academia, and government, the 75,000-sf facility will include laboratories, prototyping suites, multimedia classrooms, conference rooms, and business incubator space. The general contractor for the project is Bird Construction and occupancy is expected in April of 2018. The Stanley Paul Engineering Building will also be constructed.

A new Centralized Research Support Facility (CRSF) at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) has created a host of benefits for the university and its Animal Care Program, including almost $13 million in savings to date, with more savings expected when existing space is reassigned. The project could signal a paradigm shift as available research space shrinks, but consolidation/centralization requires significant operational and cultural shifts.

Cornell College began construction in spring of 2017 on the $35 million Russell Science Center in Mount Vernon, Iowa. The four-story, 45,600-sf facility will provide dedicated research space, classrooms and labs for biology and chemistry, faculty offices, and study areas. Completion is expected in January of 2019.

The Sheikha Salwa Sabah Al Ahmad Stem Cell and Umbilical Cord Center is being constructed in the Sabah Medical District in Kuwait. Designed by SSH, the $26 million facility will provide research and testing laboratories, an outpatient center for adult stem cell collection, a cryolab, and storage banks for stem and cord blood cells. The three-story, 84,000-sf project will also include medical libraries, a lecture hall, and a utility building. Completion is expected in September of 2017.

Ryerson University is building the Centre for Urban Innovation in Toronto. Designed by Moriyama & Teshima, the project includes renovating and expanding an existing structure to create a 40,000-sf facility providing wet and dry research labs, fabrication suites, and offices for business incubation and commercialization. The collaborative center will accommodate researchers in infrastructure, logistics, transportation, alternative energy, water management, food production, and data analytics.

The International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE) announced the annual winners for the Facility of the Year Award (FOYA) program in February of 2017. The category winners were:

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory broke ground in late January of 2017 on the $91.5 million Integrative Genomics Building in Berkeley, Calif. Designed by SmithGroup, the four-story, 82,604-gsf facility will house approximately 300 researchers and staff from the Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute and the Systems Biology Knowledgebase.

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) is constructing the $70 million Science Research Building in Edinburg. Supporting STEM programs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, the four-story, 115,000-sf project will provide classrooms, teaching labs, faculty and researcher offices, an instrumentation research and teaching core, and research labs for biological and physical science. Additionally, the $54 million Academic Building is being constructed in Brownsville.

Auburn University broke ground in February of 2017 on the Brown-Kopel Engineering Student Achievement Center in Auburn, Ala. The $40 million facility will feature a design and innovation center with maker spaces, labs, shops, project incubators, and flexible classrooms for active learning. The project will also include technology-rich study spaces, conference rooms, and auditoriums, as well as areas for recruitment, tutoring, and academic advising. Completion is expected in spring of 2019.  

The University of California, San Francisco will begin construction in 2019 on a $200 million academic and research facility at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center (ZSFG). Supporting the University’s existing research programs at the hospital, the five-story, 175,000-sf project will consolidate and replace labs and offices that do not meet new seismic regulations. Accommodating 800 faculty, trainees, and staff, the development will also enable ZSFG to maintain its status as the city’s only Level 1 Trauma Center.

The University of Idaho opened the $53 million Integrated Research and Innovation Center (IRIC) on its Moscow campus in January of 2017. Designed by NBBJ, the collaborative 70,000-sf project features flexible laboratories for interdisciplinary research, an advanced visualization suite, offices, conference rooms, and core labs with shared equipment. Hoffman Construction Company broke ground on the facility in August of 2014. LEED Gold sustainable design certification will be sought for the project.

The University of South Florida is planning to build a $153 million facility to house the Morsani College of Medicine and Heart Institute in Tampa. Designed by HOK, the 320,000-sf project will provide laboratories, learning spaces, conference rooms, faculty offices, an auditorium, and a clinical trials unit. The construction manager is Skanska USA Building and completion is expected in late 2019.

Brigham Young University-Idaho dedicated the 108,000-sf Science and Technology Building in February of 2017 in Rexburg. Designed by CRSA of Salt Lake City, the three-story facility provides classrooms, multifunctional laboratories, and faculty offices for the Departments of Animal and Food Science, Applied Plant Science, Computer Information Technology, and Computer Science and Electrical Engineering. Illuminated by abundant natural light, the project will feature collaborative areas for student projects.

Central Michigan University opened the $95 million Biosciences Building in January of 2017 in Mount Pleasant. Designed by Stantec to promote interaction and collaboration, the four-story, 169,000-sf facility provides teaching labs, research labs, lecture halls, an active learning classroom, an auditorium, and faculty offices. The building also includes a BSL-3 suite, an herbarium, an imaging center, and an aquatic research vivarium. Clark Construction began work on the project in September of 2014.

Combining wireless sensor networks with custom mobile apps to create interactive “sentient buildings” and smart community spaces has the potential to significantly impact the future of facility design in higher education, healthcare, research, and other sectors where increased collaboration and space efficiency are crucial.