The University of North Texas is constructing the Science and Technology Building on its Denton campus. Designed by SmithGroup, the $109 million facility will serve the College of Science, the College of Engineering, the College of Health and Public Service, and other departments and programs.
Optimizing facilities is about the people and animals inside the buildings just as much as it is about the buildings themselves. As a facility with a One Health focus, University of Washington (UW) vivariums operate within the framework that humans, animals, and the environment are interconnected, and that caring for one means caring for the other two. While the concept behind One Health has informed the global scientific community since the beginning of modern medicine, the term and its application to vivarium facilities management is relatively new.
More and more universities are building their scientific research centers around cores of huge, heavy, yet surprisingly delicate equipment. Building a core laboratory facility forces architects and campus planners to think about logistics, timing, and backup systems to a level of detail probably more familiar to NASA engineers than institutional architects. As the team behind Emory University’s new Health Sciences Research Building II (HSRB-II) learned, a huge range of factors—in their case, everything from the amount of rebar in the flooring to the width of the corridors to shipping velocity on the Suez Canal—must be reckoned with before such a facility is completed.
Penn Medicine opened a $376 million facility in September of 2025 in Philadelphia to drive pioneering research in autoimmune disorders. Positioned atop an existing 250,000-sf office tower, the eight-story overbuild features wet laboratories, a vivarium, and a BSL-3 lab for the processing of infectious disease specimens.
Wesleyan University is constructing a $255 million science building to consolidate two existing facilities and anchor a transformational life sciences precinct in Middletown, Conn. Designed by Payette, the 195,000-gsf structure will house the departments of Biology, Chemistry, and Molecular Biology and Biochemistry. The four-story development will feature 39 research and support labs, nine teaching labs, seven classrooms, and a vivarium.
Brown University is constructing the William A. and Ami Kuan Danoff Laboratories in Providence’s Jewelry District to support integrated life sciences research. The 300,000-sf facility was designed by TenBerke and Ballinger to catalyze innovation and the commercialization of impactful scientific and medical breakthroughs. The seven-story building will provide six levels of wet and dry laboratories and research cores for programs in biology, medicine, neuroscience, bioengineering, and public health.
State-of-the-art labs are more efficient, cheaper, and more pleasant for the animals housed there than older designs. Despite all these advantages, most labs are decades out of date, say laboratory architect Jeff Zynda of Perkins&Will and laboratory veterinary consultant John J. Hasenau. The longtime collaborators point out that outdated labs are missing out on a broad range of improvements—from more efficient HVAC systems to a deeper understanding of light spectrums to better cage design—that are more comfortable for the animals, more useful for the scientists, and less expensive to operate.
Masaryk University (MU) is constructing the MUNI BioPharma Hub to drive excellence in research, education, and innovation in Brno in the Czech Republic. Offering three underground levels and six stories above grade, the 163,504-sf project was designed by Pelčák a partner architekti to combine leading-edge scientific infrastructure with modern academic venues.
The University of California, San Diego opened the $152 million Viterbi Family Vision Research Center in June of 2025 at the Shiley Eye Institute in La Jolla, Calif. The 100,000-sf facility was designed by NBBJ to foster interdisciplinary collaboration with wet and dry laboratories, clinical trial suites, educational facilities, and a vivarium. Supporting leading-edge research, the five-story structure will drive advances in the treatment of ophthalmologic diseases and prepare the next generation of clinician-scientists for the workforce.
Beacon Capital Partners and Trammell Crow Company completed Hyde Park Labs in July of 2025 in Chicago. The $225 million project was designed by Elkus Manfredi Architects, Moody Nolan, and Interactive Design Architects to offer 300,000 rsf of Class A lab and office space spread over nine floors. With 4,200 sf of chemical storage space and vivarium access, the 13-story facility includes an executive boardroom, four floors of above- and below-ground parking, and street-level retail.
The University of Kansas Cancer Center broke ground in May of 2025 on a visionary complex that will collocate groundbreaking biomedical research with world-class patient care in Kansas City. Designed by HDR and Hoefer Welker, the $450 million facility will deliver a comprehensive array of services in a single integrated location, as well as providing direct access to leading-edge clinical trials.
Purdue University is constructing the $160 million Nursing and Pharmacy Education Building in West Lafayette, Ind. Designed by Ayers Saint Gross and BSA LifeStructures, the 185,400-gsf facility will catalyze interprofessional synergies by collocating the School of Nursing and the Department of Pharmacy Practice in one dynamic center. This innovative hub for health science excellence will support a contemporary curriculum that equips future nurses and pharmacists with the essential competencies to deliver optimal patient care.
On Feb. 4, 2023, the temperature in Boston plunged to -9 F. Unbeknownst to the team at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a rooftop access door at the Building for Transformative Medicine (BTM), which housed the facility’s vivarium, had been left unlocked. It was a costly oversight. Powerful winds forced the door open, exposing vital infrastructure to extreme cold. Sprinkler pipes froze, cracked, and ultimately burst when temperatures rose, unleashing a flood that cascaded through critical areas.
Brandywine Realty Trust has completed construction on 3151 Market Street, a dynamic innovation facility in the heart of Philadelphia’s life sciences cluster. Designed by Gensler, the 472,000-sf tower offers purpose-built offices and customizable laboratories with options for chemical and biological use, GMP production, and vivarium operations. Collaboration and knowledge exchange are enhanced by an advanced conference center and a café, complemented by private terraces and green spaces to amplify employee productivity.
Though universities may update master plans every five or 10 years, many find planning works best when it is continual and flexible to accommodate program and leadership changes. A number of projects at the University of North Texas Health Science Center (HSC) in Fort Worth demonstrate the need to assess existing spaces and develop plans for growth and flexibility, as well as the benefits of building long-term relationships with architects and other vendors.
