(l-r) J. Kenneth Menges, Jean Morrison, Gloria Waters, BU President Robert Brown, Boston Mayor Martin Walsh, and Robert Knox / ©Arup/Julian Astbury
Boston – Arup, a multidisciplinary engineering and consulting firm, announced the groundbreaking of the $150 million, nine-story, 170,000sf Boston University (BU) Center for Integrated Life Science & Engineering.
Designed by Payette, an architectural design firm in Boston, the modern and sustainable facility will bring together life scientists, engineers, and physicians in a visionary research center with flexible research facilities for the multidisciplinary faculty and students. BU administrators and Boston city officials were joined by the design team and community members to mark the start of construction in May.
“Boston University has emerged as a major private research university in a relatively short period of time, in the last few decades, and it was not by accident. It was by intentional design, much like the design that went into this facility,” BU President Robert Brown said at the groundbreaking ceremony.
Facilitating collaborative interdisciplinary research efforts for which adjacent space is essential, the center will be a major addition to BU’s physical infrastructure and will accommodate seven key areas of research: 1) photonics; 2) synthetic and systems biology; 3) systems neuroscience; 4) data science; 5) global health; 6) urban health; and 7) infectious disease.
As part of the engineering design team, Arup is implementing smart-building techniques to achieve client goals of energy efficiency, sustainability, environmental protection, and end user comfort. Arup is providing mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire protection engineering, sustainability, and IT/communications consulting.
