Cannon Design, an internationally ranked architectural, engineering and planning firm, announced that work has begun on Nova Southeastern University's Center of Excellence for Coral Reef Ecosystems Research in Hollywood, FL.
The 87,500 sf project will house a collaborative research environment encompassing the full range of disciplines required for integrated coral reef studies including geospatial analysis and mapping, biodiversity, plant and animal studies, genetics, genomics and hydrodynamics.
The Center for Excellence will transform the campus as it consolidates the university's research and teaching functions into one state-of-the-art facility that will attract world class faculty and double the size of the school of oceanography. It will achieve the school's vision to transform its culture by forging new entrepeneurial and collaborative partnerships with other academic institutions, federal and industry partners.
Through the creation of a "spine" of highly flexible and adaptable laboratory spaces, the building will support anything from highly wet seatwater based environments to dry laboratories for data and image analysis as well as a research data center The building draws its inspiration from its location between the Atlantic Ocean and the transportation channel of the Intercoastal Waterway. The laboratory block to the south acts as the anchor and datum for curving waves of glass that generate interdisciplinary collaboration space, dynamic office space and a multimedia research library.
The Oceanographic Institute competed against well-known, nationally-recognized universities in the United States to earn one of only five grants awarded by the National Institute of Standards (NIST) through a design competition. Cannon Design has partnered in a fast track design-build delivery process with local contractor Moss-Miller. Working together in a highly integrated collaborative format the team is on course to achieve the NIST required January 2012 opening date, a total design and construction period of 18 months. The research center is being designed for LEED Silver requirements.