Time management author Alan Lakein once wrote that “planning is bringing the future into the present so you can do something about it now.” That principle underlines nearly every facet of the University of Virginia’s new Paul and Diane Manning Institute for Biotechnology, which is supported by a donation from healthcare entrepreneur Paul Manning, with added university and state funding. The $350 million, five-story facility under construction on a school-owned research park is expected to become a collaborative nerve center for the state’s rapidly evolving biotech industry, combining under one roof the latest research and development facilities and state-of-the-art manufacturing capabilities for cell and gene therapies, nanotechnology and drug delivery.
But when U.Va. celebrates the institute’s opening next year, only about half of the 354,000-square-foot facility will have been equipped, a nod to budget considerations, competitive construction activity in Virginia and the need for flexibility to quickly adapt to the biotech industry’s rapidly changing technology and research priorities. Determining which elements of the research center’s future were immediately feasible ahead of its October 2023 opening required more than a year of planning and back-and-forth with lead designer Elkus Manfredi Architects and construction manager at risk Skanska.
Only about half of the facility will be renovated, allowing the remaining space to accommodate emerging technologies and research efforts.
Photo courtesy of Skanska
U. Va. Project manager Mashal Hartman explains that the initial vision for a smaller concept grew as the pre-design work unfolded, with its schedule heavily influenced by the explosion of Virginia’s data center sector, which exacerbated the post-pandemic cost escalation and made MEP trade workers a coveted commodity. “We felt we had this opportunity to make it a dense and different facility,” Hartman says. “The decision was made to build a bigger building and equip as much as we could based on costs, but we are still starting the investigation as soon as possible.”
Donald Sundgren, U.Va. vice president and director of facilities, adds, “There were times when we weren’t sure what we were going to build. But we fit in very well and everyone is happy.”
BIM proved essential in routing various utilities through interior concrete masonry walls.
Photo courtesy of Skanska
One-off acquisitions
As the project gained more focus, the early release of several construction packages allowed Skanska to begin competing for critical design support subcontractors that could handle constructability, budget and long-term equipment procurement, especially for a complex MEP scope of work that would total more than $120 million.
“From an electrical perspective, we were talking to companies as far away as Boston, Florida and Atlanta to make sure we had the right competence and business partners needed for this project,” says Skanska project executive Matt Kidwell. “With a two-year wait for the building’s 2-kilowatt generator, and nearly a year for the custom air handlers, it was important to get those up and running soon, too.”
“We felt we had this opportunity to make it a dense and different facility.”
—Mashal Hartman, Project Director, University of Virginia
With Skanska’s help, the university took advantage of the state’s sales tax exemption by directly purchasing major building system components, lab work and equipment. “This has helped us save a lot of money,” says Hartman.
Another early release, the site enablement package, was delivered nearly 19 months before the final design. Along with utility relocations, including one of Charlottesville’s main wastewater mains, site preparation work would include construction of a nearly 30-foot-tall retaining wall so the site can be expanded horizontally 35 feet to accommodate the approximately 62,000-square-foot L-shaped building footprint, parking lot and relocated service unit.
Subsurface rock was an expected problem, but even with the building’s shallow foundation, the initial boring data proved too sporadic to accurately model the subsurface profile, Kidwell says. By drilling additional boreholes at 50-foot intervals in a grid spanning the building’s footprint, the estimate increased from 8,000 cubic meters to 30,000 cubic meters, which is more than half of what a massive 50,000 cubic meter excavation would be.
The need for flyovers as part of the site preparation work was, literally and figuratively, a sensitive issue, given the proximity of other buildings housing medical services and research activities.
“With so many stakeholders involved, we did a lot of outreach beforehand with several town hall meetings, some with over 1,000 participants,” says Hartman.
The job site configuration also limited options for positioning the project’s two tower cranes, including a compact 40-ton capacity machine that required proper positioning to install five 50-foot-long, 22,000-pound W36x441 raised floor fill beams to meet the core laboratory’s stringent vibration criteria as well as the building’s primary air handling requirements personalized
“We eventually located this crane in the L corner of the building, in a space adjacent to a nearby life sciences research building that will have an underground tunnel connection to the Manning Institute,” says Kidwell.
The building system components were sourced from various assembly facilities along the East Coast.
Photo courtesy of Skanska
Complex facilities
The project team’s extensive initial planning has paid off with a relatively smooth vertical construction phase, incorporating nearly 13,300 cubic meters of concrete and more than 3,700 tons of structural steel that was completed in October 2025. Prefabricated system components sourced and delivered from assembly centers as far away as New York and Florida played a critical role in interior installations, MEP. 717,583 pounds of conduit and over 96 miles of electrical conduit. Kidwell says the team’s year-long BIM coordination effort has proven especially valuable in layering multiple systems above the roof. The 9 feet of interstitial space above the medicinal chemistry lab is filled with structural steel, ductwork and other infrastructure for the space’s 35 smoke hoods.
While the weekly extraction planning has ensured that the installation runs smoothly, efficiently and as designed, “it’s been a major coordination effort to get everything done and maintain an 11-foot ceiling,” adds Kidwell.
BIM was instrumental in optimizing the interstitial space between floors.
Photo courtesy of Skanska
Routing various utilities through the interior walls of the concrete masonry unit is equally difficult. “You start to run out of space to make all the devices fit,” says Kidwell.
Using a combination of BIM and other software, Skanska modeled all utilities on the wall to ensure proper alignment and spacing and compliance with ADA rules and user location preferences before applying a multi-part epoxy finish. “Having to move something like a thermostat at this point would be like cutting through a sheet metal wall in an office,” says Kidwell. “We want to make sure we’re putting things where they need to be.”
Most areas on the lower two floors of the building are being prepared for Day 1 operation, including a universal wet lab, a special medicinal chemistry lab, and a vivarium. Only parts of the top three levels are being fitted out with a universal lab and office/community space; the rest of the floor spaces are closed for future use. Hartman says locating support areas in the middle of each wing’s lab space will help maximize long-term flexibility.
“We want to make sure we’re putting things where they need to be.”
—Matt Kidwell, Project Executive, Skanska
“Although not tailored to a specific type of research, the design gives all researchers the ability to share resources,” he says. “This allows the building to be very dense.”
In the future, the university will equip today’s strictly regulated Good Manufacturing Practice cleanrooms for Phase 1 pharmaceutical production, allowing pharmaceutical companies to work alongside researchers to bring new drugs to market. Services available to all tenants of the research park are also planned, such as a cafeteria and a conference center.
If demand for the Manning Institute’s expertise and resources continues to grow, space in the park is available for a second building nearby. As part of the current project, Skanska has built a 19,000 square meter thermal power plant, an underground utility distribution network and stormwater management upgrades to support immediate and long-term needs.
When it opens next year, the facility is expected to become a collaborative hub for the state’s rapidly evolving biotech industry.
Rendering courtesy of the University of Virginia
Now past the halfway point, upcoming milestones for the Skanska team, which is staying on time and on budget, include dry; completion of unified curtain wall, brick and stone facade and vapor barriers; and energizing sections with permanent power. The HVAC installation will be followed by system testing and pressure balancing to ensure they are ready for use by researchers starting next year.
Sundgren says the project has already provided some valuable lessons for future complex efforts, especially when it comes to procuring qualified commercial services. “Instead of regretting what we’ve done, we want to be happy with what we’ve done,” he says, “even if we had to spend a little more.”
