USC Selects Developer for $300M Health Sciences Campus

The University of South Carolina in Columbia, S.C., recently announced that it has selected a developer for its new health sciences campus in downtown Columbia. Gilbane will spearhead the project’s planning, design, development, and construction after approval by the university’s Board of Trustees in mid-December, according to a university news release.

The 181-acre campus’ first stage consists of two buildings, a medical education building and multidisciplinary research building, totaling 292,000 square feet. Construction is currently scheduled to begin in 2025 and end in 2027. Future developments are slated to include a brain center to expand the university’s McCausland Center for Brain Imaging and offer treatment options to local Alzheimer’s and dementia patients.

“Gilbane has assembled a world-class design and construction team that will provide innovation and expertise to develop a health sciences campus to serve USC and the state of South Carolina for many generations into the future,” said university architect Derek Gruner.

Gilbane has announced plans to partner with numerous local businesses and is aiming for a 30-percent subcontracting participation rate for minority- and women-owned businesses.

“By expanding our capacity to educate physicians and other healthcare professionals, we will increase our impact on the health and well-being of the Palmetto State’s citizens,” said vice president for research Julius Fridriksson. “The new health sciences campus will also provide a cutting-edge settling where our faculty can unleash their drive for innovation in the health sector, discovering new lifesaving and health-promoting technologies through increased research and development.”

About the Author

Matt Jones is senior editor of Spaces4Learning. He can be reached at [email protected].

Featured

  • Architectural Power for the Modern Campus Landscape

    For generations, an outdoor classroom only required a textbook and a patch of grass. Today, not only has the laptop replaced the printed pages, the rise of agile learning has turned campuses into study halls with students listening to lectures and researching topics from quads, gardens, and plazas. The challenge for architects and facility managers is to provide connectivity without cluttering the landscape with visual eyesores or creating safety hazards with extension cords.

  • FGCU Breaks Ground on New Health Sciences Building

    Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) has launched construction on a major new academic facility that leaders say will reshape healthcare education in Southwest Florida for decades to come, according to university news.

  • Dallas ISD Voters Approve $6.2B Bond Package

    Dallas ISD voters have approved a record-setting $6.2-billion bond package that district leaders say will modernize aging campuses, eliminate portable classrooms and reshape learning environments across one of the nation’s largest school systems.

  • Deferred Maintenance Issues Growing at Universities, Gordian Reports

    U.S. colleges and universities are falling increasingly behind on facilities maintenance and repair, according to Gordian’s 13th annual State of Facilities in Higher Education report. The deferred capital renewal burden has reached $156 per gross square foot, an 8% increase over the previous year.