Higher education has historically been a mainstay for many AEC firms, but the economic downturn forced many colleges and universities to stretch out, stall, or even cancel capital projects. One positive sign is the June 13 announcement by Harvard University that it will resume development of its 500,000- to 600,000-sf Allston Health and Life Science Center in 2014, after halting construction in 2009. The estimated $1 billion-plus in work has AEC firms champing at the bit.
Is the Harvard announcement a sign of good things to come? Maybe. Maybe not.
Carole Wedge, FAIA, LEED AP, President of Shepley Bulfinch Richardson & Abbott, says university capital budgets look like they’ll be tight for some time to come. “We’re seeing higher-ed clients looking for ways to be smart about their capital investments,” she says. “More than simply prioritizing their capital spending, they want to determine the most impactful projects for their campuses.”
Chris Brasier, FAIA, LEED AP, Vice President of Clark Nexsen Architecture & Engineering, says he has seen greater activity in master planning and advanced planning for future projects, as well as more deferred maintenance work. “With endowments and state funding still recovering from the great recession, existing facilities are being repurposed with greater emphasis on flexibility to accommodate a broad range of instructional activity within a single space,” he says.
“Flexibility” is the catchword in collegiate facilities these days. Shepley Bulfinch’s Wedge cites interdisciplinary science facilities like the future Harvard’s Allston science center, which will house facilities for stem cell science as well as engineering and physical sciences, and the new College of Design, Engineering, and Commerce at Philadelphia University.
Brad Lukanic, AIA, LEED AP, Principal at Cannon Design, has noticed a trend toward flexibility at community colleges. “Space is at a premium, and we need to design buildings that offer learning everywhere,” he says. The focus must go beyond just the classroom, even into the corridors and collaboration spaces. “Everything must be flexible and ready for learning all the time,” he says.
STRETCHING BEYOND LEED
Universities are seeking more bang for the buck in terms of sustainability as well. Clark Nexsen’s Brasier says collegiate clients are demanding more than LEED certification: They’re expecting a bottom-line benefit in terms of reduced operating costs, especially through improved energy performance.
ZGF Architects’ Partner Ted Hyman, FAIA, agrees that clients are looking to sustainable design as a means to trim O&M costs, but says they don’t necessarily want to pay more for green buildings. “Using an integrated design approach and new analytical tools for performance modeling, we are finding we can deliver high-performance buildings at the same, or even lower, capital costs,” he says.
With some 677 institutions having signed the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment, achieving carbon neutrality is the ultimate goal. “Campuses are utilizing pilot projects to test implementation strategies on one building that could then be rolled out across campus,” says Chris Flint Chatto, Assoc. AIA, LEED AP. The ZGF Sustainable Design Associate points to his firm’s design for the University of Washington’s Molecular Engineering & Sciences building, which uses natural ventilation and phase change materials to eliminate cooling needs for faculty offices.
TRACKING THE TRENDS
Specific academic building types are experiencing change, according to Clark Nexsen’s Brasier. For example, the demand on campuses for more robust digital capacity is resulting in larger, more complex data centers. Libraries are filling up with team rooms, not only to foster greater collaboration among students, but also to provide advanced computer technology that most students can’t afford.
Gen Y students also have high expectations for residence halls, according to Clark Nexsen’s Operations Director Peter Aranyi, AIA, and Senior Architect Ken Gallaugher, AIA, LEED AP BD+C. From personal bathrooms to high-speed Internet access and flat-screen TVs, they expect privacy and a “live-and-learn” community atmosphere. Security is also a top priority, so res hall locks have gone wireless.
With jobs in short supply, more collegians are going to school year-round. This presents an operations hurdle for university facilities staff and construction firms that would normally use the summer months to repair and update facilities.
Interest in the use of building information modeling is also picking up, especially in the design and construction of research facilities, says Angus Leary, Chief Operating Officer, Northeast Region, Suffolk Construction. For science and technology projects, he says, “BIM is basically a requirement,” and his firm has begun utilizing 6D technology in this space.
Cautious optimism seems to be the best way to describe the university market. Suffolk Construction’s Leary says his firm is fairly bullish about work at institutions in the Northeast. Allyn Stellmacher, Design Partner at ZGF Architects, says the firm is “optimistic that this year is the last year of the recession.”
Fingers crossed. +
TOP 25 UNIVERSITY SECTOR ARCHITECTURE FIRMS
Rank | Company | 2011 University Revenue ($) |
1 | Cannon Design | 87,000,000 |
2 | Perkins+Will | 44,649,973 |
3 | ZGF Architects | 31,513,344 |
4 | EYP Architecture & Engineering | 24,958,224 |
5 | SmithGroupJJR | 23,100,000 |
6 | HOK | 22,759,496 |
7 | Shepley Bulfinch Richardson & Abbott | 22,234,000 |
8 | IBI Group | 22,136,504 |
9 | Gensler | 19,250,500 |
10 | Skidmore, Owings & Merrill | 17,783,000 |
11 | Ballinger | 17,460,661 |
12 | SHW Group | 16,273,552 |
13 | Hammel, Green and Abrahamson | 16,200,000 |
14 | HMC Architects | 15,882,470 |
15 | Sasaki Associates | 14,861,566 |
16 | Flad Architects | 14,440,000 |
17 | HNTB Architecture | 13,220,652 |
18 | DLR Group | 13,140,000 |
19 | Perkins Eastman | 13,000,000 |
20 | Ennead Architects | 11,600,000 |
21 | S/L/A/M Collaborative, The | 10,658,510 |
22 | BSA LifeStructures | 10,303,967 |
23 | Heery International | 9,536,000 |
24 | LPA | 9,469,765 |
25 | Moseley Architects | 9,140,000 |
TOP 25 UNIVERSITY SECTOR ENGINEERING FIRMS
Rank | Company | 2011 University Revenue ($) |
1 | URS Corp. | 85,600,000 |
2 | Jacobs | 75,100,000 |
3 | Stantec | 63,450,000 |
4 | AECOM Technology Corp. | 63,000,000 |
5 | Atkins North America | 29,899,688 |
6 | Parsons Brinckerhoff | 21,900,000 |
7 | STV | 19,765,000 |
8 | Clark Nexsen | 18,681,885 |
9 | Eaton Energy Solutions | 15,863,119 |
10 | R.G. Vanderweil Engineers | 13,707,500 |
11 | Burns & McDonnell | 13,430,931 |
12 | KJWW Engineering Consultants | 11,117,473 |
13 | KPFF Consulting Engineers | 11,000,000 |
14 | Arup | 10,604,123 |
15 | Bard, Rao + Athanas Consulting Engineers | 9,800,000 |
16 | Simpson Gumpertz & Heger | 8,690,000 |
17 | M/E Engineering | 7,700,000 |
18 | WSP USA | 7,300,000 |
19 | Bergmann Associates | 7,100,000 |
20 | Dewberry | 7,023,489 |
21 | P2S Engineering | 6,777,497 |
22 | Sebesta Blomberg | 6,695,924 |
23 | Stanley Consultants | 6,100,000 |
24 | RMF Engineering | 6,000,000 |
25 | Heapy Engineering | 5,869,055 |
TOP 25 UNIVERSITY SECTOR CONSTRUCTION FIRMS
Rank | Company | 2011 University Revenue ($) |
1 | M+W U.S. | 908,412,342 |
2 | Gilbane Building Co. | 847,038,000 |
3 | Turner Corp., The | 748,000,000 |
4 | PCL Construction Enterprises | 682,884,910 |
5 | Skanska USA | 514,460,894 |
6 | Whiting-Turner Contracting Co., The | 505,659,766 |
7 | Swinerton | 302,950,000 |
8 | Balfour Beatty US | 299,314,655 |
9 | Structure Tone | 275,420,000 |
10 | Sundt Construction | 254,698,897 |
11 | Hunt Construction Group | 247,500,000 |
12 | JE Dunn Construction | 236,307,786 |
13 | McCarthy Holdings | 217,000,000 |
14 | W. M. Jordan Co. | 191,930,824 |
15 | Shawmut Design and Construction | 179,900,000 |
16 | Messer Construction | 178,769,470 |
17 | Suffolk Construction | 172,662,764 |
18 | Flintco | 171,600,000 |
19 | Mortenson Construction | 169,890,000 |
20 | Tutor Perini Corp. | 167,393,000 |
21 | Manhattan Construction Group | 163,093,000 |
22 | Lend Lease | 157,270,352 |
23 | Hensel Phelps Construction | 156,030,000 |
24 | Barton Malow | 148,648,720 |
25 | Austin Industries | 142,032,883 |
Related Stories
Codes and Standards | Apr 12, 2024
ICC eliminates building electrification provisions from 2024 update
The International Code Council stripped out provisions from the 2024 update to the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) that would have included beefed up circuitry for hooking up electric appliances and car chargers.
Urban Planning | Apr 12, 2024
Popular Denver e-bike voucher program aids carbon reduction goals
Denver’s e-bike voucher program that helps citizens pay for e-bikes, a component of the city’s carbon reduction plan, has proven extremely popular with residents. Earlier this year, Denver’s effort to get residents to swap some motor vehicle trips for bike trips ran out of vouchers in less than 10 minutes after the program opened to online applications.
Laboratories | Apr 12, 2024
Life science construction completions will peak this year, then drop off substantially
There will be a record amount of construction completions in the U.S. life science market in 2024, followed by a dramatic drop in 2025, according to CBRE. In 2024, 21.3 million sf of life science space will be completed in the 13 largest U.S. markets. That’s up from 13.9 million sf last year and 5.6 million sf in 2022.
Multifamily Housing | Apr 12, 2024
Habitat starts leasing Cassidy on Canal, a new luxury rental high-rise in Chicago
New 33-story Class A rental tower, designed by SCB, will offer 343 rental units.
Student Housing | Apr 12, 2024
Construction begins on Auburn University’s new first-year residence hall
The new first-year residence hall along Auburn University's Haley Concourse.
K-12 Schools | Apr 11, 2024
Eric Dinges named CEO of PBK
Eric Dinges named CEO of PBK Architects, Houston.
Construction Costs | Apr 11, 2024
Construction materials prices increase 0.4% in March 2024
Construction input prices increased 0.4% in March compared to the previous month, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Producer Price Index data released today. Nonresidential construction input prices also increased 0.4% for the month.
Healthcare Facilities | Apr 11, 2024
The just cause in behavioral health design: Make it right
NAC Architecture shares strategies for approaching behavioral health design collaboratively and thoughtfully, rather than simply applying a set of blanket rules.
K-12 Schools | Apr 10, 2024
A San Antonio school will provide early childhood education to a traditionally under-resourced region
In San Antonio, Pre-K 4 SA, which provides preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds, and HOLT Group, which owns industrial and other companies, recently broke ground on an early childhood education: the South Education Center.
University Buildings | Apr 10, 2024
Columbia University to begin construction on New York City’s first all-electric academic research building
Columbia University will soon begin construction on New York City’s first all-electric academic research building. Designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF), the 80,700-sf building for the university’s Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons will provide eight floors of biomedical research and lab facilities as well as symposium and community engagement spaces.