Washington State University this week released new renderings of its $35 million Global Animal Health Building, designed by Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects. It is being designed to meet or exceed LEED silver standards.

The Global Animal Health Building is the result of a 2004 master plan that identified building facilities that support WSU’s school for global animal health missions.

Design development of the Global Animal Health Building will be complete this month.

A key part of the master plan is development of new facilities that support the WSU’s infectious disease research and diagnostic programs.

The $35 million first phase of the Global Animal Health Building is funded by $25 million from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to be matched by $10 million that WSU is raising.

"The College of Veterinary Medicine has been planning for new space to alleviate overcrowding and to allow us to abandon some truly awful research space," said Bryan Slinker, dean of the college. "The overall result also will repurpose existing space to benefit the whole college."

Meanwhile, groundbreaking for early site work for another project identified in the master plan, the Veterinary Medical Research Building, is scheduled in July.

Construction is expected to be completed in December 2012. It will be the third building in WSU Pullman's planned seven-building Research and Education Complex.

Both buildings will be near the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, within the College of Veterinary Medicine precinct.

The 128,000-square-foot Veterinary Medical Research Building will provide properly equipped and environmentally controlled, state-of-the-art biomedical research and support space for the health science teaching and research programs.

The Global Animal Health Building is planned to be 60,000 square feet. Key features of the phase 1 Global Animal Health research building will include approximately 20,000 square feet of laboratories, office space and meeting rooms for 12 to 15 research scientists and their support staff and graduate students, and a state-of-the-art infectious disease research facility that has been designed and equipped to meet today’s standards for investigating emerging diseases, according to WSU.

A second phase will house the Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory and include programs for animal disease diagnostic and research lab operations. Long-term plans include development of high-biosafety level laboratory space for surveillance and test development for diseases such as avian flu and mad cow disease.

This $60 million to $70 million second phase is on hold until state funding is appropriated and authorized. WSU plans to submit the project for state funding. If approved, design would begin in 2011, with construction scheduled for completion in 2015.