Colorado State University has selected the design-build team of Hord Coplan Macht (formerly SLATERPAULL Architects) and Haselden Construction to complete design and construction for a new $81.9-million biology building on the CSU campus in Fort Collins.

The 152,000-sq-ft classroom and research facility will anchor the eastern edge of CSU’s new science commons at South Pitkin and East streets. The building will include state-of-the-art research laboratories, which will further advance CSU’s biology department and the College of Natural Sciences.

The new building is being designed as a campus destination with large, two-story idea spaces for students and faculty to collaborate outside the research and teaching laboratories. The biology building and its “science on display” design will address the ongoing surge in enrollment at CSU, along with a rising interest in life sciences across the country.

“We look forward to working with CSU, the College of Natural Sciences and our construction partners on this sensational building and applaud CSU for being one of the first higher education institutions to use the design-build lump sum delivery method,” says Jennifer Cordes, principal, Hord Coplan Macht.

Hord Coplan Macht is currently working on the CSU campus with RATIO Architects on a $56-million, 60,000-sq-ft chemistry building. The combined biology and chemistry buildings total $136 million in new on-campus construction and will further define and form the shared, outdoor space known as the new science commons.

“The biology building is a natural fit for our bio-science team, and we look forward to enhancing CSU’s tradition of academic excellence,” said JJ Rams, Haselden’s vice president of business development.