Murray State University is building the $37 million Engineering Physics Building in Murray, Ky. Designed by Hastings+Chivetta with Research Facilities Design (RFD) as laboratory design consultant, the 72,500-sf undergraduate science facility will provide teaching and research labs for engineering, biology, chemistry, astronomy, electronics, and materials science.
The University of Windsor broke ground in January of 2017 on the $23 million Science Research and Innovation Centre in Ontario, Canada. The collaborative 46,000-sf facility will feature sophisticated laboratories for research and development in advanced materials, biomedical science, and automotive technologies. The project is being constructed by Amico Design Build with Colliers as project manager. Completion is expected in April of 2018.
The University of Texas at Austin is building the $314 million Engineering Education and Research Center. Designed by Ennead Architects, the 433,000-sf facility will provide the Cockrell School of Engineering with multidisciplinary research labs, teaching labs, classrooms, meeting rooms, collaboration space, a central atrium, and a 299-seat auditorium. LEED Silver sustainable design certification will be sought for the project, which will feature the National Instruments Student Project Center, the Texas Instruments Laboratories, and the Innovation Center.
Ursinus College is constructing the 42,500-sf Innovation and Discovery Center in Collegeville, Pa. Designed by Ellenzweig, the collaborative, multidisciplinary facility will accommodate programs in science, policy, and entrepreneurship. The three-story structure will feature multifunctional teaching and research labs, a makerspace, interaction areas, and two TEAL classrooms. Connecting two existing buildings, the project will house the Parlee Center for Science and the Common Good and the U-Imagine Center for Integrative and Entrepreneurial Studies.
The Jackson Laboratory is building the $21 million Center for Biometric Analysis in Bar Harbor, Maine. Designed by Harriman Associates, the 21,000-sf facility will support the precision analysis of disease markers in research mice through advanced imaging and analytical technologies. PC Construction broke ground on the project in June of 2016 and completion is expected by January of 2018. The construction cost of the facility is $14 million.
Tusculum College opened the $30 million Meen Center for Science and Mathematics in January of 2017 in Greenville, Tenn. Designed by John Fisher + Associates, the four-story, 100,000-sf facility provides teaching and research labs, classrooms, and lecture halls for programs in biology, chemistry, computer science, nursing, mathematics, and environmental science. Rentenbach Constructors began work on the project in May of 2015.
The University of Birmingham began construction in January of 2017 on the £40 million Collaborative Teaching Laboratory in the United Kingdom. Designed by Sheppard Robson, the two-story, 72,120-sf facility will accommodate STEM programs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The interdisciplinary building will provide wet labs, dry labs, and an e-lab in a technology-rich environment supporting team-based education. The general contractor is Morgan Sindall and completion is expected in of 2019.
Penn Medicine and Novartis have joined forces to create the new Center for Advanced Cellular Therapies (CACT), located atop the Henry Jordan Medical Education Center at the Perelman School of Medicine. Dedicated to finding more effective treatments for cancer using personalized medicine, this first-of-its-kind facility forms the epicenter for research using chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) technology, which enables a patient’s T cells to be removed, reprogrammed, and re-infused into the patient, where they can “hunt” and destroy cancer cells.
Rolls-Royce will open a 33,000-sf research facility in March of 2017 in West Lafayette, Ind. Supporting collaboration with faculty and students from Purdue University, the center is located in a 55,000-sf building in the Purdue Research Park Aerospace District. The facility will accommodate the design, development, and testing of jet engine components, as well as research into alternative fuels. Construction was completed in December of 2016.
After a one-year delay, Congress has passed the 21st Century Cures Act, which includes new funding totaling $4.8 billion for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), $500 million for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to bring novel drug therapies and medical devices to market more quickly, and $1 billion to fight the growing opioid crisis. The NIH funding includes $1.8 billion for Vice President Joseph Biden’s “Cancer Moonshot,” $1.6 billion for President Obama’s BRAIN initiative, and additional money earmarked for precision medicine. The Cures Act funding is separate from, and in addition to, annual NIH budget increases. It comes on the heals of a $2 billion increase in NIH funding last year, the largest increase in a decade. If the trend continues, it could result in a need for additional research infrastructure in the form of renovations and new construction.
Skidmore College is planning to build the $100 million Center for Integrated Sciences in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Designed by Payette, the 200,000-sf project will support programs in biology, chemistry, physics, neuroscience, psychology, geoscience, environmental science, mathematics, computer science, and health and exercise science.
Michigan State University will begin construction in August of 2017 on the $100 million Interdisciplinary Science and Technology Building in East Lansing. Supporting STEM programs in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, the five-story, 170,000-sf facility will provide wet bench laboratories, offices, computational research space, and collaboration areas. Completion is expected in August of 2019.
Imperial College London began construction in early 2017 on the £70 million Michael Uren Biomedical Engineering Research Hub in London. Designed by Allies & Morrison, the collaborative 14-story building will provide flexible laboratories, an outpatient clinic, an auditorium, and interaction spaces. Located on the White City campus, the 215,000-sf translational research facility will be built to attain BREEAM sustainable design certification and will feature a highly efficient service model with interconnected utility plants on each floor.
The University of Calgary opened the CAD$174 million Canadian Natural Resources Limited Engineering Complex in November of 2016 in Alberta, Canada. Designed by Diamond Schmitt Architects, the expansion project comprises a 197,000-sf addition and 119,000 sf of renovated space for the Schulich School of Engineering. The collaborative facility features a programmable dynamic view glass façade and provides two new floors of research laboratories for the study of renewable energy resources and the development of clean energy technologies.
