The $35 million Lobo Rainforest Building will provide high-tech research and development facilities for University of New Mexico programs as well as five floors of student housing. This will include the offices of STC.UNM, a nonprofit corporation formed and owned by the University of New Mexico Board of Regents that is currently located on UNM’s South Campus at the Science & Technology Park. The Cecchi VentureLab, an incubator for STC.UNM, and the UNM Innovation Academy, which supports student entrepreneurial training, will also take up residence in the new facility. These offices will be joined by Innovate New Mexico, a statewide technology commercialization program; an Air Force research lab; a credit union branch office; and a café. Floors two through six of the new facility will be reserved for 155 upper-level undergraduate and graduate student suites as well as a fitness area.

“We are planting the first ‘economic tree’ in our desert rainforest,” Robert Frank, president of the University of New Mexico, said in a statement. “This is the result of an idea — a seedling — that took root three and a half years ago, has been nurtured and cultivated by our partners, and will grow into a future harvest of innovation for our state.”

“The Lobo Rainforest Building is an extraordinary opportunity and a catalyst for our city, higher education and downtown,” said Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry, who joined in the groundbreaking festivities, in a statement. “This project will help the revitalization of downtown Albuquerque by bringing UNM’s Innovation Academy and student housing to the InnovateABQ site.”

Lisa Kuuttila, CEO and chief economic development officer for STC.UNM, added in a statement issued by the university that working with the Innovation Academy will bring together students, entrepreneurs and researchers, while providing students in particular with “a nurturing environment to test their ideas and start companies.”

A master plan approved by the UNM Board of Regents shows the site could eventually house approximately 824,000 square feet of business and administrative spaces, student housing, research laboratories and possible commercials spaces such as a hotel or retail shops. Such proposed development for the InnovateABQ campus includes renovation of parts of an existing church building located on the site to provide space for offices, community gatherings and event space; parking structures; retail space; and pedestrian-friendly green space, according to a statement by the university.

While, full development of the site could take between 10 and 20 years, university officials anticipate completion of the Lobo Rainforest Building by August 2017.

The development’s project team includes Signet Development with offices in Akron, Ohio and Jacksonville, Fla.; Goodman Realty Group of Albuquerque; the Albuquerque office of Deker/Perich/Sabatini; and Perkins + Will of Atlanta.

The post 2016 Project to Watch: Innovate ABQ Campus appeared first on School Construction News.

Over the past several years, the campus has seen a number of major improvements, including ones made to the athletic and recreation facilities completed in 2014, followed by the new welcome center and O’Reilly Clinical Health Sciences Center, completed in time for fall 2015 classes.

This year, the campus will see the completion of a $1.6 million safe room, funded by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. It will be the first tornado shelter of its kind on campus. Doug Sampson, university architect and director of planning, design and construction, told the Springfield News-Leader that the campus has designated areas for people to take shelter, but this will be the first shelter area built to withstand a tornado. Scheduled for completion by year’s end, the shelter will be large enough to accommodate 1,200 people.

Other smaller projects being completed this year include improvements to fire suppression systems, elevator and bathroom renovations, and accessibility improvements throughout campus.

Another major project, scheduled for completion in approximately one year, is the expansion and renovation of Glass Hall, which houses the university’s College of Business. The project will add 40,000 square feet to the existing 170,000-square-foot structure as well as renovate existing public spaces such as the building’s corridors and restrooms. Chicago-headquartered Perkins + Will is serving as the consultant on the project, while locally based DeWitt & Associates Inc. is the general contractor.

Construction is scheduled to start next month on the renovation of Ellis Hall, home to the Department of Music. It, too, is slated to take roughly a year to complete. The project includes advance work, including asbestos abatement and relocating the faculty and staff to a temporary location at Glen Isle Shopping Center, reported the Springfield News-Leader.

In October, the university will break ground on the new 36,000-square-foot Taylor Health and Wellness Center. Designed by St. Louis-headquartered Hastings + Chivetta, the Taylor Health and Wellness Center will include a pharmacy, lab and women’s clinic as well as existing health and wellness services. It will feature a drive-up pharmacy window as well as landscaping to connect the facility the university’s new welcome center, according to the project’s website. It will also be located on the site of the existing Taylor Health and Wellness Center, and current health and wellness operations will be relocated to make way for demolition of the building.

Students advocated for the new center by voting to create a health fee so that the university’s construction department can sell bonds for the project, Sampson told the Springfield News-Leader. The project is scheduled for completion in 2017.

The post Missouri State’s $123 Million in Construction Projects on Track appeared first on School Construction News.

Construction on the $32.7 million Experiential Engineering Building began last summer. Locally based Dondlinger & Sons Construction Co. is serving as the construction manager on the project, while locally based WDM Architects is working with Chicago-headquartered Perkins + Will on the design.

The building will feature labs and various collaborative workspaces. One of its key elements is the makerspace designed to host creators and inventors of every age and background. Officially named Go Create, a Koch Collaborative, the makerspace will be an innovation trifecta — part manufacturing plant, part design studio and part garage workshop, reported Wichita State News.

The Airbus North American Engineering Center, aka Partnership 1, is also scheduled for completion this fall. GLMV Architecture is serving as the architect on the project, while Crossland Construction Company Inc. is the construction manager. Both have local offices in Wichita.

Airbus, an international aircraft manufacturer, opened its first design and engineering facility in downtown Wichita in 2002. The move to the new Innovation Campus gives the company access to support infrastructure such as engineering labs, research faculty, conference facilities and educational opportunities, according to a statement. Airbus also plans to partner with the university and take advantage of the applied-learning model by helping engage students in real-world engineering projects.

“Our presence on the Innovation Campus will help us enhance products and business processes to create value for our customers,” said John O’Leary, vice president of Airbus Americas Engineering, in a statement. “The campus provides an environment that fosters the transition of innovative ideas into real-world uses and value for the company.”

The university also recently chose Crossland Construction Company Inc. to work on the second and largest phase of infrastructure for the Innovation Campus, according to Wichita State News. Expected to begin in the next 60 days, the utilities and infrastructure project will include most of the major utilities and roads required to support future development on the Innovation Campus. Included in this phase will be the construction of Innovation Way as well as a pedestrian mall that will serve as an organizational feature for future building development, accommodate emergency vehicles and be a shared easement for multiple utilities.

“It’s exciting to see the pieces of Innovation Campus coming together,” WSU President John Bardo told Wichita State News. “Our intention is that this 120-acre space becomes a stimulus for applied learning, a nurturing home for inventors and entrepreneurs and an accelerator for economic growth for the people of Kansas. Innovation Campus construction itself is an important economic catalyst for Kansas, employing hundreds in the construction, engineering and design of the campus.”

In addition to the Experiential Engineering and Partnership 1 facilities, the new Innovation Campus will also eventually be the new home of the College of Business, adding to the university’s goal of attracting new businesses while retaining and developing within the pre-existing industries in Wichita.
 

The post Wichita State on Track for Innovation Campus Debut appeared first on School Construction News.

As schools are turning more and more to modular buildings for students (more than 7.5 million students are being taught in temporary classrooms, according to Perkins + Will), the architecture firm decided to enhance the space in order to eliminate energy and construction costs, while creating a healthier learning environment.

The Sprout Space is an affordable modular classroom that meets students’ needs for 21st century learning. The design was first noticed during the Open Architecture Challenge, where it placed first in the modular category.

The building is designed to have a functional classroom inside and encourages various teaching styles and room arrangements. Flexibility is a key function of the space, as it consists of outdoor teaching walls to better engage students.

Instead of looking at the modular building as a temporary structure — the Sprout Space can be implemented as a permanent structure. Chattahoochee Hills Charter School (CHCS), near Atlanta, is composed entirely of Sprout Space classrooms.

“Designing a sustainable future is our passion at Perkins+Will, and we offer the Sprout Space classroom as an example to the world of a more responsible modular classroom,” said Phil Harrison, president and chief executive officer of Perkins+Will. “The development and launch of Sprout Space is another milestone for us as we continue to be a global leader in green building innovation and at the forefront of both K-12 and higher education classroom design.”

Sprout Space offers sun shades, integrated rainwater collection, photovoltaic roof panels, LED lighting coupled with lighting controls, and efficient heating and cooling systems. The goal of Sprout Space is for it to eventually be an energy independent classroom.

The first Sprout Space was built in the U.S. with distributor Triumph Modular and building by Mark Line Industries. It is the first high-performance modular classroom on the market and is available nationwide.

In case your school doesn’t have Sprout Space classrooms yet, you can always go visit them on display on the lawn of the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., starting March 3 and staying until the end of the year. The Sprout Space is sure to become a major attraction in the museum’s Green Schools exhibit.

The post Architecture Firm Gets Green Buildings Growing appeared first on School Construction News.