Rensselaer Magazine, September 2002: At Rensselaer

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Building Project

Photo by Gary Gold

Breaking Ground for a “Birthplace of Discovery”

Rensselaer celebrated a major landmark this spring when the university broke ground for its new Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies. The $80 million technologically advanced facility will be integral to Rensselaer’s rapid surge in research activity in the areas of biotechnology, information technology, nanotechnology, and related fields.

“The Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies is central to achieving our goals — and, indeed, our nation’s goals — in research, education, and outreach,” President Jackson said during the groundbreaking ceremony in May. “It will be a focal point for biotechnology and interdisciplinary research, a home for world-class faculty, a place to conduct groundbreaking research, and to showcase that research to the world at large.”

“This will be a birthplace of discovery,” Jackson said.

The 218,000-square-foot center is being constructed on 15th Street adjacent to the George M. Low Center for Industrial Innovation. It will mirror historic architectural features of the Quad residence hall at the opposite end of the street. The building, which will accommodate space for 60 faculty members and more than 300 researchers and graduate students, will provide state-of-the-art facilities for research in functional tissue engineering, integrative systems biology, biocomputation and bioinformatics, biocatalysis and metabolic engineering, and other areas.

Comparable in size to the Low Center, the building will consist of four laboratory floors, plus a mechanical penthouse. The office wing facing east along 15th Street will have three stories. The office wing parallel to a proposed new pedestrian walk will face south and have four stories. The facility is expected to open in 2004.

The building is designed by the joint venture team of Burt Hill Kosar Rittelmann of Butler, Pa., and Bohlin Cywinski Jackson of Pittsburgh — both experienced in biotechnology design. Several of the architects involved on the joint project are Rensselaer alumni: Dick Rittelmann ’60, principal-in-charge; Peter Bohlin ’58, design architect; and Jon Jackson ’73, lead architect. Harry Gordon ’73 and Michael Maiese ’90 are also on the team.

Rensselaer Magazine: September 2002
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