Table of Contents
New Frontiers Campaign Total,
Construction Progress on the Rise
Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine update
Construction on the new facility for the Brown Foundation Institute of
Molecular Medicine for the Prevention of Human Diseases (IMM)
advances upward from vertical support structures that go deep into the
ground below the building’s foundation. Columns are installed on top
of these structures to form the skeleton of the building.
With $180 million now raised in the New Frontiers Campaign, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston is closing in on its $200 million goal to build and equip a new home for the Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine for the Prevention of Human Diseases (IMM) and to recruit and support additional top scientists in the search for the basic mechanisms behind common human diseases.
“While fund raising continues for the remaining $20 million needed for recruitment, startup resources and research expansion, we are excited to see construction progressing rapidly on the new IMM facility,” said Campaign Chair Beth Robertson.
Designed by Missouri firm Berkebile Nelson Immenschuh McDowell Architects and Pennsylvania firm Burt Hill Kosar Rittelmann Associates, the building will be located west of and adjacent to the existing University Center Tower at the corner of Fannin and Pressler streets. Vaughn Construction is the contractor.
Since the groundbreaking ceremony in September 2003, work has begun on the concrete foundation and building shell, considered stage one of the construction.
In July 2004, the team completed the main vertical support structures, or piling caps, for the research support area that conjoins the building’s two wings. These structures typically go down as deep as 60 feet below the foundation of the building. On top of the piling caps, columns from the ground level to level two in this research support area also were installed.
In addition, several support structures for the lab wing were installed, and in August, work began on the horizontal beams forming the foundation of the first floor and will move upward from there.
The new institute will consist of two wings, one for technology and administrative offices and one for core research labs, with at least 65 percent (137,000 sq. ft.) of the useable space devoted to actual research. The building also will feature energy-efficient innovations such as sun screens and high-performance mechanical systems.
The health science center looks forward to the IMM’s completion in the fall of 2005.
— Amber Buckley, Development