The University of Southern California completed construction in June of 2017 on the $185 million Michelson Center for Convergent Bioscience in Los Angeles. The 190,000-sf translational research facility offers collaborative labs and offices for 30 principal investigators, as well as housing a 7,200-sf microscopy imaging suite and a 10,000-sf nanofabrication cleanroom offering Class 100 and 1,000 capabilities.
The University of Texas at Dallas is constructing a 200,000-gsf engineering facility on its Richardson campus. Designed by SmithGroup JJR to promote collaboration, the project will provide 120,000 assignable square feet for the Department of Mechanical Engineering including research labs, teaching labs, classrooms, faculty offices, student work areas, and a 300-seat auditorium. The building will offer a mix of high-bay, wet, dry, and core laboratories to support research programs in energy, robotics, and nanobiotechnology.
The University of Nottingham broke ground on the 97,000-sf Advanced Manufacturing Building in November of 2016 in the United Kingdom. G.F. Tomlinson was awarded the £16 million construction contract for the project, which will be built on a former brownfield site on the Jubilee Campus. Designed by Bond Bryan, the facility will provide the Faculty of Engineering with research labs and offices, teaching spaces, workshops, and an area for large-scale aerospace demonstrator components.
The U.S. Department of Energy opened the Laboratory for Plasma Nanosynthesis in July of 2016 in New Jersey. Located on the Forrestal Campus of Princeton University, the project represents an expansion of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory and provides three times as much research space as the original facility.
The University of Sydney opened the AUD$150 million Sydney Nanoscience Hub in April of 2016. Housing the Australian Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology (AINST), the facility features ISO Class 5 and Class 7 cleanrooms to support advanced research in photonics, engineered quantum systems, and energy technologies. Providing core labs as well as teaching space, the Nanoscience Hub accommodates device design, fabrication, and testing in a single location.
Penn State University’s Millennium Science Complex is a state-of-the-art 297,000-sf facility that combines the Materials Research Institute with the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences to create an interdisciplinary research center for advancing science through diverse relationships. The facility serves as a valuable equipment and resource hub for thousands of researchers from Penn State and other organizations—including academic, government labs, and industry—who are at the leading edge of materials science, nanofabrication, and other disciplines.
Harvard University is planning to build the John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences in Allston, Mass. Designed by Behnisch Architekten, the six-story, 586,000-sf building will feature a central atrium rising from the basement level offering sophisticated interaction space for faculty, students, and staff. The facility will provide classrooms, open teaching spaces, conference rooms, as well as areas for exhibits, retail, and dining.
Ohio State University celebrated the opening of the $126 million Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and Chemistry Building (CBEC) in Columbus in April of 2015. The two-building, 235,000-sf project includes a four-story teaching and research building physically connected to a six-story office and research building. The LEED-certified complex features wet research labs with ancillary support, computational research suites, shared core labs, instructional spaces, and offices for faculty, graduate students, and administration.
Minerals research firm Mintek opened a cleanroom and biocontainment laboratory in April of 2015 in Johannesburg. Supported by $2.4 million in funding from South Africa's Department of Science and Technology, the project includes an ISO 5 cleanroom and a BSL-3 suite to accommodate the development of advanced diagnostic technologies for diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV. The facilities feature sophisticated controls for the regulation of temperature, pressure, moisture, and airborne particles.
George Washington University opened the $275 million Science and Engineering Hall in March of 2015 in Washington, D.C. Located on the Foggy Bottom campus, the 500,000-sf interdisciplinary facility provides classrooms, integrated core facilities, and collaborative research spaces. Designed by Ballinger, the facility houses laboratories for biomedical engineering, nanofabrication, molecular genetics, imaging, and environmental engineering. The three-story high bay lab will support structural testing for large-scale construction components.
SUNY Polytechnic is building the $191 million Zero-Energy Nanotechnology (ZEN) building in Albany, N.Y. Designed by EYP Architecture & Engineering to support clean energy research, the 360,000-sf facility will provide labs, classrooms, offices, and a large central atrium. The building will also house the new data center for the state of New York and the headquarters of the U.S. Photovoltaic Manufacturing Consortium. CommerceHub will occupy 50,000 sf in the building.
Ground was broken on the USC Michelson Center for Convergent Bioscience in October of 2014. The 190,000-sf facility will provide the University of Southern California with collaborative labs and offices for up to 30 scientists and engineers engaged in translational research. Representing a partnership between the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences and the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, the project will house the Center for Electron Microscopy and Analysis, a nanofabrication facility, and a microscopy imaging technology suite.
The University of Illinois dedicated the $95 million Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Building in Urbana in October of 2014. Designed by SmithGroup of Chicago, the six-story, 235,000-sf facility provides advanced classrooms, labs, and equipment suites for interdisciplinary research in biotechnology, communications, computing, energy, and nanotechnology.
The University of Ottawa opened the Advanced Research Complex in October of 2014. The $57 million interdisciplinary facility houses the Centre for Advanced Photonics and features a 44-ton accelerator mass spectrometer. Designed by COLE+Associates Architects, the five-story, 150,000-sf project was built with four vibration-resistant floating floors to accommodate advanced research in geoscience and nanophotonics. LEED Silver sustainable design certification will be sought for the facility, which was built by Pomerleau.
High-performance core facilities, spurred by proliferating cross-disciplinary investigations and technological advances, can benefit from the long-standing focus on flexibility that has generated so many design efficiencies in the traditional research lab, says Randy Kray, senior vice president and science and technology director of programming and planning at HOK.
