The Daily Dig:
The University of Tampa is breaking ground this spring on a five-story, 153,000 square foot Science Center along the Hillsborough River in downtown Tampa. It's the largest academic facility investment in the school's 94 year history and will consolidate science teaching and research operations currently scattered across campus. Opening is scheduled for Spring 2029.
The building will serve as the primary academic home for the College of Natural and Health Sciences, housing the departments of biology, chemistry and biochemistry, forensic science, and marine science, along with allied health, computational science, and environmental science programs.
The program includes 25 teaching labs and 23 research labs, with specialty spaces covering three microscopy rooms, four aquarium research labs, two tissue culture labs, and an advanced instrumentation lab. Additional spaces include a bioinformatics and computational sciences classroom, a 35-seat room designed for future conversion into a 20-station instructional lab, and 73 faculty offices. Three outdoor areas round out the site: Riverside Garden, a shared pedestrian Entrance Plaza connecting to the Grand Center and Macdonald-Kelce Library, and the Northeast Quadrangle. The project is pursuing LEED certification and will incorporate sustainable and accessible design features.
Project Snapshot:
Owner / Developer: University of Tampa
General Contractor / CM: Barr & Barr
Design Team: HDR Architects
Sector: Higher Education / Science
Location: Tampa, Florida (Hillsborough River campus)
Scope: 153,000 SF, five stories, 25 teaching labs, 23 research labs, specialty lab rooms, 73 faculty offices, three outdoor spaces
Timeline / Status: Construction begins this spring; groundbreaking planned in the spring semester; opening scheduled for Spring 2029
TheJobWalk Thoughts:
Anyone sizing this up as a standard higher ed build is going to underprice it and find out the hard way. Four aquarium research labs, two tissue culture rooms, three microscopy suites, and an advanced instrumentation lab don't just mean more MEP, they mean the right MEP. Sequenced correctly, with controls integration and specialty plumbing that general campus contractors aren't always equipped to handle. Ventilation coordination across that many lab types alone is a significant scope. Add LEED requirements on top and the coordination load gets heavier. With Spring 2029 as the target, procurement will move in structured phases, and Barr & Barr will be looking for subs and suppliers who can show real lab experience, not just square footage. If your firm has done research or life science work, that's your opening. If you haven't, this probably isn't the job to learn on.
