Delayed nine-story, $350M UMass Chan research facility on track to finish in June
Image | Courtesy of UMass Chan Medical School
Construction continues at UMass Chan's new education and research building, but officials expect it to wrap up by June.
Nearly three and a half years after the project was first announced, UMass Chan Medical School’s new $350-million research and education building is on track to be completed in June.
Up to 250 people are working on the final stages of construction of the nine-story, 350,000-square-foot building. Upon its completion, the building will add new research space for more than 70 principal investigators and their lab teams, according to a post on UMass Chan’s website published on Monday.
Equipment and temporary construction offices will soon be removed from the school’s quad, allowing for its restoration in anticipation of its commencement ceremony slated for June 2.
“There is a lot of site work to be done on the quad and around the building,” Brian Duffy, senior director of facilities management for capital projects at UMass Chan, said in the post. “The plan is to have the area restored with beautiful green grass by Commencement.”
The school’s current plan is to co-locate a number of departments and programs at the new building, including the Program in Molecular Medicine, the Horae Gene Therapy Center, and the Departments of Neurology and Neurobiology.
The research and education building was originally slated to be completed by the fall of 2023, but faced delays in the beginning of its construction. The building ended up being topped out in August 2022, with work continuing on the building since.
The facility is designed to be LEED Gold certified by the U.S. Green Building Council, adding to the region’s buildings designated as sustainable and energy efficient. Sustainable aspects of the project include the installation of a geothermal system and the installation of an energy-efficient air handling system at the building. The building was predicted to cost $325 million when it was first announced in 2020, although the $350 million current cost is within its budget.
Architectural Resources Cambridge, a Boston-based architecture and planning firm, designed the project in association with Oregon-based ZGF Architects.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been updated from a previous version to include an updated figure for construction costs.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story incorrectly said the UMass Chan Medical School's new Program in Human Genetics & Evolutionary Biology will be in the research and education building. That program's inclusion was previously part of the building's plans but has been phased out as the project progressed.
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