TUCSON, Ariz.—The design-build team of SmithGroup and McCarthy Building Companies has finished up work on the $85 million University of Arizona Applied Research Building (ARB), which will be home to the world’s single largest vacuum chamber, a cutting-edge apparatus that simulates outer space conditions and thus will be vital to extra-Earth research.

The 89,000-square-foot ARB will be the nation’s first freestanding educational structure dedicated specifically to the fabrication and testing of satellites.  The ARB will be home to Arizona’s applied physical sciences and engineering departments, uniting under one roof eight different science disciplines including astronomy, optical sciences and medicine.  This marks a significant collaboration between Arizona and NASA in the fields of astrophysics and space science.

The ARB will also host clean rooms, laboratories as well as an “anechoic”—or echo-proof—chamber that will be ideal for sound-testing satellite communications apparatuses.  Large bay labs on the facility’s north-facing edge will also be used for building high-altitude stratospheric balloons and nanosatellites, also known as “CubeSats.”  In addition, the ARB features a testing facility to measure the durability of airplane wings and various other sensitive equipment.

SmithGroup and McCarthy commenced on the design-build process in the fall of 2019, with ground first broken for the ARB in June 2021.  Among SmithGroup’s duties included not just architectural design but also fire protection and safety engineering, landscape planning, lighting design, and mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) engineering.  Among the general contractors roles, McCarthy was tasked with ensuring covid-compliance as much of the work had to be undertaken as the pandemic continued to rage.  Subcontractors on the job included Sextant, Colin Gordon, Comfort Systems, Sturgeon Electric, Dibble Corporation and Magnum Paving.

Elizabeth “Betsy” Cantwell, UofA’s senior vice president for research and innovation, said that the ARB displays Arizona’s commitment to scientific inquiry and the ongoing development of space exploration capabilities.

“These are high-impact fields which not only touch, but drive forth, several aspects of the Fourth Industrial Revolution,” Cantwell said.  “Applied research capabilities and outcomes will be augmented with state-of-the-art equipment and technology and several interdisciplinary university programs working together under one roof.”

“Befitting the cutting-edge work occurring within, the new ARB is a space-age marvel,” said Mark Kranz, design director at SmithGroup.  “Radical in design, the building itself is a highly calibrated machine, uniquely suited to house complex and sensitive research demands with optimal performance in its desert environment.

Added Antonya Williams, executive vice president of McCarthy’s Education Group: “The University of Arizona has been a leader in design-build, and this project is a great example of how the process brings a vision to life and provides the community that it serves a facility that will achieve remarkable things.

“We are grateful to have helped deliver this world-class project for the university and are thrilled that it will function to continue fostering a culture of collaboration for the campus and its researchers.”

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TUCSON, Ariz.—General contractor McCarthy Building Companies recently celebrated the topping out of the 89,000-square-foot facility University of Arizona’s new Applied Research Building (ARB).

The $85-million, four-story complex is being constructed at the southeast corner of Helen Street and the Highland Corridor, a major campus throughway.  When finished the ARB will be home to instruction and research related to space exploration, imaging technology, manufacturing and other scientific inquiry.  The ARB will also be home to the academic world’s single largest thermal vacuum chamber.  The building will feature laboratories, offices, conference rooms and “high-bay payload assembly areas.”

McCarthy has been working in conjunction with designer SmithGroup to ensure that the ARB will provide the state-of-the-art capabilities for which the University of Arizona has become known within the scientific community.  Various academic disciplines and concentrations will all be warehoused in the new building, including artificial intelligence, disease prevention and space exploration.

The ARB will also be the new home for the school’s Imaging Technology Laboratory, currently off-campus.  The lab will be able to expand its footprint at the ARB as it continues its missions related to satellite imaging and improving the U of A’s telescope capabilities.  The ARB will also be able to reach the next step in designing and testing nanosatellites, which not only reduce the cost of space exploration but take away the need for human astronauts.

No actual classes will be taught at the ARB, but both graduate and undergraduate students will be able to conduct research and experiments inside the facility.

“As a design-build project, our team fully integrated with our design partners, the owner and its end users to ensure ARB is not only highly functional, but we’ve also been able to overcome many of the supply chain issues that other projects are facing—the result is that ARB is on schedule and on budget even as modifications were made throughout construction,” Mike Lee, McCarthy’s ARB project director, said in a recent statement.  “Additionally, design-build delivery provided the visibility and flexibility necessary to accommodate and install the massive, irreplaceable, thermal TV chamber and support the University’s research and educational objectives.”

“This building will bring together people from multiple disciplines, multiple departments, and multiple external community partners as a collective to approach research as a collaborative process where the facility enables the whole, rather than the siloed parts, of addressing great societal challenges, regardless of how complex, but also glorious, that whole may be,” R. Brooks Jeffery, the University of Arizona’s associate vice president for research infrastructure, said during the topping-out event.

Added Stephanie Mitrovic, SmithGroup’s Science & Technology Studio Leader in Phoenix and principal in charge of the project: “The Applied Research Building (ARB) will serve as a state-of-the-art core research facility that supports next-generation space research. The team designed the building’s unique curtain wall assemblies to combine glass, metal panels with protruding fin walls, and masonry veneer to tie in the colors and design elements of the surrounding facilities.”

The builders are aiming for LEED Silver certification.  Construction is expected to be finished by next January.

McCarthy and SmithGroup have worked on other projects for the University of Arizona including the College of Medicine – Phoenix, the Arizona State Museum collections storage, and the South Stadium Parking Structure.

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TUCSON, Ariz.—General contractor Sundt Construction Inc., which has offices in Phoenix and Tucson, is performing more renovations for its longtime client, the University of Arizona. For its 59th overall project at the campus in Tucson, Sundt will provide renovations for the U of A’s Chemistry-Physics building. The facility, affectionately known as the Old Chemistry Building, was first constructed in 1936 and is part of the campus’s 18-building historic district, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Old Chemistry building is being envisioned as a 21st century learning node, such that interaction and development will be emphasized and students will be able to acquire the workplace skills they will need to succeed in a competitive and technologically rich environment.

It will bring Sundt’s work at the university’s science building essentially full-circle as it was one of the five buildings the general contractor first constructed at the University of Arizona in the late 1930s as part of a program funded by the Works Progress Administration. Four of those buildings—Old Chemistry, the Nugent Building, the Sonnett Space Science Building and Centennial Hall—are still being used today.

The Old Chemistry building was designed during the Great Depression by Tucson-based architect Roy Place. Its original design was a two-story brick structure featuring two main entrances. The building has had several renovations over the ensuing decades, including adding both the north and south wings, which were fashioned in 1948.

The current design-build aims to renovate 55,000 square feet of the Old Chemistry building to update its facilities. In addition, a three-story, 23,000-square-foot building will connect to the building’s south side. This addition will feature classrooms and administrative office space, as well as be the new home for the nuclear magnetic resonance technology and machine shop.

Renovations include bringing the building up to necessary code, extending its future lifespan and attending to maintenance issues that were long deferred.

Sundt is working on the $42 million project in concert with Shepley Bulfinch, who is serving as the architect on record, and Poster Frost Mirto, a historical preservation consultant.

“We are excited to return to a building that we constructed in the late 1930s,” Dave Ollanik, project director for Sundt, said in a recent statement. “Just as important as it was back then, today being able to provide students with a vibrant hub for learning and collaboration is critical.”

Sundt began its work in May, and the renovation of the Old Chemistry building is projected to be completed by the end of 2022.

Sundt, which opened shop in Tucson in 1929, has worked on other buildings at the University of Arizona including the McKale Center, Centennial Hall and skyboxes for the college’s stadium complex. Sundt recently renovated Old Main, the campus’s initial building, and they are also working on renovating the core district of the campus.

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Located in the North District of one of the University of Arizona’s four residential districts, Honors Village is a six-story modern residential tower that provides suite and semi-suite units for more than 1,000 honors college students. The 341,292-square-foot complex, developed by American Campus Communities, provides on-site honors classrooms, collaboration spaces and offices for faculty and staff. Honors Village will also include a Recreation and Wellness Center incorporating a Campus Health Counseling & Psych Services (CAPS) neighboring building, a 370-space parking structure, and off-site improvements to the surrounding streets, sidewalks, and landscaping.

“By partnering with American Campus Communities, the University of Arizona was able to apply creative solutions to develop a living-learning community that is an immersive honors college experience for our students,” said the University of Arizona President Dr. Robert C. Robbins. “ACC’s expertise and knowledge, combined with our commitment to academic success, are demonstrated through this collaboration that we hope will further contribute to students’ skills, academic journey, and personal achievements in tomorrow’s careers.”

Designed by STG Design, Honors Village is pursuing LEED® Certified Silver. This new residential community offers first-time and returning honors students a total of 1,056 on-campus beds in suites and in semi-suites.

“Honors Village provides the essential resources and community atmosphere to keep up with the demands and needs of talented Honors students at the University of Arizona while offering price points comparable to the market,” said Chief Executive Officer of American Campus Communities, Bill Bayless. “We look forward to continuing our long-term partnership efforts with the University of Arizona to offer quality purpose-built communities that fuel student academic and personal achievement.”

On-site amenities include indoor recreation rooms, an interior courtyard, student lounges, community kitchen and in-dorm dining at Arizona’s newest eatery ‘85 North. All amenities, including the dining facility’s first floor, are open to all students, faculty, and staff.

“This project has revitalized the northern edge of the University of Arizona campus and has helped pay for improvements to city infrastructure, creating a win for the university, the city, and the neighborhood,” said Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild.

To be a resident at Honors Village, students must apply and be admitted to the Honors College by first completing the University of Arizona admissions application. The profile of this year’s 2019 UArizona’s honors students boast an average GPA of 3.89, an average SAT comp of 1409 and an average ACT comp of 31, all showing an increase over last year’s entering class.

“Living in Honors Village gives me the opportunity to belong to a strong and supportive community,” said Chris Brown, an Honors junior with a world-leading management information systems major. “Between my extra curricular activities, class time and work, the amazing amenities and learning spaces, Honors Village makes it easy to help me be my best self and to prioritize studying.”

This is the first public-private development partnership for the University of Arizona with American Campus Communities. The transaction for the Honors Village residential tower was structured under the American Campus Equity (ACE)® program, a public-private partnership that provides on-campus housing to universities without using school funds or tax-payer dollars. Universities are able to expand and modernize their student housing portfolios without using their financial resources while allowing ACC to offer affordable rents to residents by delivering high-quality student housing with lower development costs and operating expenses.

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The 245,000-square-foot copper building is the latest addition to the 15-year-old Phoenix Biomedical Campus (PBC), which brings bioresearch and education to the downtown area. BSPB will be the latest facility to do that, as researchers begin to move into the building’s fifth and sixth floors. A joint venture between Sundt Construction and DPR Construction (with offices throughout Arizona) will continue to build out the 10^th floor, which was originally designed as shell space. Los Angeles-based CO Architects and locally based Ayres Saint Gross designed the 10-story facility.

“This building will foster collaborations with scientists that will lead to more cures, better treatments and bring more federal and private dollars to Arizona,” said University of Arizona President Ann Weaver Hart in a statement at last year’s topping out ceremony.

The Center for Applied Nanoscience and Biomedicine will be headquartered in the building, according to Sundt’s website. Researchers in that department have been involved in major discoveries such as the Rapid DNA test, which detects early-stage bacterial infections.

“Completion of this Biomedical Sciences building will allow the University of Arizona to pursue expanded partnerships with industry that we hope will lead to groundbreaking discoveries in the areas of neuroscience, cardiovascular and thoracic science,” said Hart in a statement.

The Arizona Board of Regents approved funding for the $136 million BSPB in 2014 using Stimulus Plan for Economic and Educational Development bonds. Construction on the facility is expected to conclude in about a year.

The building is the seventh development in the expansion of the downtown PBC and expanding academic medical center built by DPR Construction. In 2012, the adjacent Health Sciences Education Building opened, housing health education for the University of Arizona and Northern Arizona University.

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