Hard Hats and Mortar Boards: University of Wisconsin-Madison's $1 Billion Life Science Building Boom Continues

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Reported by Annette Krueger, Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--For the past decade, the number of construction tradespeople has seemingly rivaled that of students on the Madison campus of the University of Wisconsin. An analysis of the school's life science investments over the past 10 years shows just more than $1 billion in life science project construction and planning. This number translated to nearly $800 million in projects that are now complete, $53 million in active construction, and another $350 million in various stages of planning.

The 13 reported projects represent an average total investment value (TIV) of $92 million. The size of the investments and the continuity underscores the state's determination to solidify its inclusion as a key national player focused on the fields of biotechnology, health sciences and stem cell research.

The first of the mega projects (TIV of more than $100 million) over the last decade for the school was the $120 million Microbial Sciences Building. Finished in mid-2007 and designed by Plunkett Raysich Architects (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) and CO Architects (Los Angeles, California), the six-story, 330,000-square-foot building provides zoned interdisciplinary laboratories, including Biosafety Level 3, for research focusing on bacteriology, immunology and toxicology. CD Smith Construction (Fond du Lac, Wisconsin) was the project's general contractor.

Click on the image at right for a list of projects at the University of Wisconsin - Madison.

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The centerpiece of the university's life science construction investment is the $180 million Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery building. An interesting component of the Institutes for Discovery project is the inclusion of both public and private research facilities. This collaborative effort will hopefully lead to a much quicker timeframe in moving from a concept in the lab to a commercially viable product. Designed by Uihlein Wilson Architects (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) and Ballinger (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), the four-story, 300,000-square-foot facility houses three floors of collaborative research space.

Construction of the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery building kicked-off in 2008 and was completed in late 2010. In 2011, the building received Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification, and in 2012, was named the Laboratory of the Year by R&D Magazine. Under a joint venture, M. A. Mortenson Company (Minneapolis, Minnesota) and Madison's J.H. Findorff & Son Incorporated handled construction of the building.

Future University of Wisconsin Madison projects, all in various stages of planning, include the $105 million expansion and renovation of the chemistry building. There are very preliminary plans for the $200 million Institute for Medical Research Phase II West Tower addition.

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