By Jessica Mize
Late last semester, ground was broken and construction began on the University of Houston’s new Multidisciplinary Research and Engineering Building.
Set to open in spring 2016, the new building will stand four stories tall and will measure 120,000 gross square feet once it is completed.
As senior project manager for the building, Kelly Buehler with Facilities Planning and Construction is overseeing the construction of the $51 million facility.
“The building is a joint project between the Division of Research and the Cullen College of Engineering,” said Buehler. “We’re working closely with Tellepsen Builders, the contractors for the building, as well as Stantec, the design team, to ensure we stay on time and deliver exactly what the clients need.”
The state-of-the-art facility, which will be located behind Calhoun Lofts, is slated to include not only office space and training facilities but also research labs that will be used for a variety of subjects. In fact, five labs have been specially designed to include features such as isolation slabs that will make it possible to store and use lasers and other sensitive equipment within the space.
Not just an investment in the Cullen College of Engineering or the Division of Research, this new addition to UH’s landscape will greatly benefit the University as a whole. Expected to help UH increase its annual research expenditures to $36 million, the Multidisciplinary Research and Engineering Building will only help solidify the University of Houston’s reputation as one of the top research universities in the nation.
For more information, visit the project’s page here, or contact Buehler at kbuehler@central.uh.edu or 713-743-9637.