Replacement Research Facility Takes Shape

Photos by Ester Fant

By the numbers:

$80.53 million to build
208,500 gross square feet of space
16,568 cubic yards of concrete
went into the structural frame
1,095 tons (2,190,000 lbs) of rebar
went into the structural frame
876 days of construction process
21,024 hours of construction process
1,261,024 minutes of construction process
75,686,400 seconds of construction process
~500 construction workers worked/working on the project
6 stories
4 areas of research focus
1 year ago - Groundbreaking ceremony of the
Replacement Research Facility held

The six-story Replacement Research Facility has reached its final physical building dimensions, in both height and footprint, and preparations are under way for constructing multiple bridging connections to the adjoining Medical School Building at various locations. The pre-cast concrete paneling continues to be installed on the building exterior structure and is enveloping the developing building interior quite nicely.

A Feb. 17 "topping out" ceremony was held for Vaughn construction workers and project team members. Dr. Michael McKinney was on hand representing health science center and Medical School leadership. A tree was placed on top of the building -- signifying the last piece of steel being placed on the highest part of the roof.

Windows, mechanical duct work to provide heating and air conditioning, as well as plumbing, electrical and other infrastructure materials and equipment are being delivered to the site daily and are being installed as work continues to progress steadily.

Meanwhile, final design for the interior finishes of the building is nearly complete. The vivarium design construction bid documents' package for floors 5 and 6 has been favorably bid by Vaughn Construction. The design construction bid documents' package for the remaining four lab floors (1 through 4) has just recently been bid out by Vaughn. Design efforts to coordinate the connection of the RRF to the Medical School Building are substantially complete as well.

The $80.53 million building is on budget and on schedule to open in the fall of 2007.

The new building will be home to the health science center's animal care facility and to four areas of research focus for the Medical School: the neurobiology of development, the molecular biology of human pathogens, physiological genomics or systems biology, and structural biology.