Genomics

It started, not with a budget or a space, but with an idea. Today, that idea has become seven stories of collaborative lab space for cutting-edge genomic research, called the New York Genome Center (NYGC). It happened with the help of innovative solutions that allowed a team to repurpose ordinary office space in a select but heavily regulated neighborhood. The result is a large, flexible, and productive facility that brings together laboratories, conference areas, a data center, and clinical space to encourage innovation and discovery—all while achieving LEED Gold certification.

The University of Plymouth opened the £17 million Derriford Research Facility in May of 2018 in the United Kingdom. Sited adjacent to the Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry at Plymouth Science Park, the 25,000-sf building is the headquarters of the Institute of Translational and Stratified Medicine.

The University of Utah celebrated the opening of the $55 million Gary & Ann Crocker Science Center in April of 2018 in Salt Lake City. Designed by EDA Architects to promote student-faculty interaction, the four-story STEM facility provides interdisciplinary science labs, 10 flexible classrooms, lecture halls, an atrium, and a business incubator.

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital will begin construction in mid-2018 on a $412 research and innovation hub on its existing campus in Memphis, Tenn. Designed by The Crump Firm and Jacobs Engineering to foster interaction, the seven-story, 625,000-sf facility will feature open laboratories with glass walls offering ample natural light.

The University of New Mexico will begin construction in spring of 2018 on the $65.7 million Physics, Astronomy, and Interdisciplinary Science Center in Albuquerque. Designed by EYP Architecture & Engineering and Van H. Gilbert, the 139,100-gsf facility will provide a variety of collaborative teaching and research spaces as well as housing the Department of Physics and Astronomy.

The University of Arizona is constructing the $107.5 million Bioscience Research Laboratories (BSRL) building in Tucson. Supporting collaborative translational research on the molecular basis of human health, aging, and disease, the four-story, 100,000-sf facility will provide wet labs, imaging suites, a genomics core, and space for informatics.

Pfizer broke ground in June of 2017 on a $200 million research and development facility in Chesterfield, Mo. Housing the BioTherapeutics Pharmaceutical Sciences group, the 295,000-sf project will enable the advancement of Pfizer’s biologics, vaccines, and gene therapy portfolio. Designed by Forum and EwingCole, the facility will feature flexible laboratories, open offices, and collaboration spaces with advanced conferencing technologies.

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.

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.

Great Ormond Street Hospital will begin construction in January of 2017 on the £42 million Zayed Centre for Research into Rare Disease in Children in London. Designed by Stanton Williams, the 140,000-sf translational research facility will provide collaborative biomedical labs and instrumentation suites to support the delivery of personalized gene and cell therapies and innovative medical devices.

UC San Diego Health opened the $943 million Jacobs Medical Center in November of 2016 in La Jolla. Designed by Cannon Design, the 10-story, 509,500-sf facility includes the Rady Pavilion for Women & Infants, the Foster Pavilion for Cancer Care, and the Vassiliadis Family Pavilion for Advanced Surgery.

The State University of New York (SUNY) Upstate Medical University opened the final phase of its Biotech Accelerator in September of 2016. Located in Syracuse, N.Y., the 60,000-sf facility was designed by The S/L/A/M Collaborative and constructed by Murnane Building Contractors. Providing wet labs, dry labs, and core research space with shared equipment, the project houses the Medical Innovation and Novel Discovery (MIND) Center and the Molecular Pathology Next Generation Sequencing Lab.

Dixie Regional Medical Center is initiating a $300 million expansion of its healthcare campus in St. George, Utah. Doubling the size of Dixie's existing hospital facilities, the 500,000-sf project will enable important medical services to be relocated and consolidated. The three-building expansion will include a new cancer center with a precision medicine department to provide personalized genomic therapies. Completion is expected in late 2018.

Global pharmaceutical manufacturer Lonza began construction in April of 2016 on a 100,000-sf facility in Pearland, Texas. Featuring a fully segregated fill/finish suite, the project will include eight independent cGMP modular cleanrooms with single-use bioreactors for the production of viral gene and virally modified therapeutics. Grade-B cleanrooms will also be constructed to continue the manufacture of EMA-regulated cell therapy products. Operations are expected to begin at the site in mid-2017.

The University of Utah broke ground in late March of 2016 on the $55 million Gary & Ann Crocker Science Center in Salt Lake City. Providing interdisciplinary science labs, lecture halls, classrooms, an atrium, and a business incubator, the four-story facility will house the Center for Cell and Genome Science and the Center for Science and Math Education. The 123,500-sf project includes renovation of the existing 71,000-sf George Thomas building and construction of a 52,500-sf addition.