Howard University in Washington, D.C., is celebrating the opening its first new laboratory building in more than 30 years.
The Washington Post reports that the 81,000-square-foot Interdisciplinary Research Building, which opened in 2015, is a $70 million project designed to support and promote interdisciplinary research and educational collaboration. Officials held an official ribbon-cutting ceremony for the building on April 15.
The facility will bring together those in the fields of medicine, engineering, dentistry, pharmacy and chemistry. University leaders believe the new building, situated at a prominent gateway location for the Howard campus, will help the school attract students and retain faculty.
Designed and built to achieve LEED certification for energy efficiency and environmental friendliness, the building includes wet and dry laboratories, instructional space, research support space, ground floor retail, and centralized offices for faculty, students and academic staff.
To adhere to the strict requirements associated with clean-laboratory research, the building has been constructed to mitigate potential vibration, acoustical, magnetic, and radio-frequency interference.
The architect is HDR, and the builder is Turner Construction.
