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Construction continues on CRC
In December, Rice began construction of a 477,000-gross-square-foot, 10-story Collaborative Research Center (CRC) at the corner of Main and University.
The new facility will enable researchers and physicians from the world’s largest medical center to team up with Rice scientists and engineers on bioscience and biotechnology research.
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Texas Medical Center (TMC) institutions participating in the CRC include Baylor College of Medicine, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, The Methodist Hospital Research Institute, Texas Children’s Hospital and The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. Discussions are under way with other potential participants, including Mexico’s Tecnologico de Monterrey.
Approved unanimously by the Rice Board of Trustees, the CRC plans call for eight floors of research laboratories in a tower atop a base that will include a vivarium, a 280-seat auditorium, a 100-seat seminar room, classrooms, 10,000 square feet of retail space for a restaurant and shops, and other common space, as well as three levels of underground parking. The baseline plan also includes two stories of shell space to allow easy and rapid expansion as the project grows, along with the potential to add a second research tower atop the base platform that could add up to another 150,000 gross square feet. The building will be constructed on 2.9 acres of land owned by Rice, with occupancy scheduled for early 2009.
“The CRC is essential to achieving Rice's Vision for the Second Century and assuring its position as a great research university,” Rice President David W. Leebron said. “Rice and the Texas Medical Center are committed to increasing their collaborative efforts and combining their complementary expertise to find path-breaking solutions to today's health-care issues.”
“University-based applied science and engineering has taken on a more important role in the translational biomedical research that leads to important new clinical applications,” Rice Provost Eugene Levy said. “Bioengineering, computational biology, imaging, and other areas of engineering – none of which are traditional strengths in research hospitals and medical schools – are playing much more critical roles in biomedical research.”
Jim Crownover, chair of Rice’s Board of Trustees, said the CRC’s leadership role in biomedicine and biotechnology will provide important benefits to the Houston economy. “Biotechnology is expected to be the No. 1 industry for job growth in Houston, targeting 30,000 new jobs over the next five years,” he said.
Although the CRC will be the largest academic building in Rice history, construction is on a “hyper-track” schedule, according to project manager Kathy Jones. It will be built to meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards developed by the U.S. Green Building Council.
Rice plans to relocate the Department of Bioengineering to the CRC, along with selected research groups from other departments.
The 10 stories above ground along Main Street will attach to a hub on the west side that handles air circulation and provides meeting space for social collaboration; the hub includes provisions for a second tower parallel to the first for a future phase two of construction.
Skidmore, Owings and Merrill is the executive and design architect, with a team led by principal design architect Craig Hartmann. The building will be constructed by Linbeck. FKP Architects is the local associate architect.
For more information, visit collaborativeresearchcenter.org.
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