By SCN Staff
CORAL GABLES, Fla.鈥擲kanska, a global construction and development firm, has announced it was selected to lead construction on the new Frost Institute of Chemistry and Molecular Science for the University of Miami that will be part of the institution鈥檚 main campus in Coral Gables.
The approximately 90,000-square-foot project includes imaging and science research laboratories, administrative and research offices, a lecture hall, a multipurpose gathering space, and associated building support spaces. The project will also include the construction of the associated site work and underground utilities.
Designed by architecture firm Harvard Jolly Architecture, the project is expected to break ground by the end of the year and is slated for completion in summer 2022. The new facility will also be seeking to achieve a minimum of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver Certification, joining other Skanska built projects including the Mercedes-Benz U.S Headquarters and Town of Andover, Bancroft Elementary School.
鈥淪kanska is honored to have been entrusted once again by the University of Miami with this new assignment,鈥� said Michael C. Brown, executive vice president and general manager of Skanska鈥檚 Florida building operations. 鈥淎s a company, we continue to specialize and focus on developing research and academic buildings for universities throughout Florida that will have a positive impact in their local communities and beyond through their work and studies.鈥�
The institute will bring together scientists from several molecular-based disciplines to do collaborative research work, using approaches relying on molecular design, discovery, and development.
This will be Skanska鈥檚 second project on behalf of the University of Miami, having completed the Patricia Louise Frost Music Studios, which was selected as Project of the Year for the Urban Land Institute鈥檚 Vision Awards, in 2015. Skanska is currently working on the University of South Florida鈥檚 (USF) Research Park Mixed Use Lab & Office project in Tampa and recently delivered the USF Health鈥檚 Morsani College of Medicine and Heart Institute in downtown Tampa.
Skanska is headquartered in New York City, with offices in 28 metro areas with 7,900 employees nationwide. Harvard Jolly Architecture聽was founded in 1938 and is one of the largest firms in Florida鈥攐ffering services in architecture, interior design and landscape architecture.