SAN DIEGO, Calif. — McCarthy has recently topped off the last concrete pour for the J. Craig Venter Institute on The University California, San Diego  campus. Completion is slated for later this year. Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects has designed he three-story, 45,000-square-foot laboratory facility. Expected to be the most environmentally friendly and only “net-zero energy” biological laboratory in the world, the new $39-million J. Craig Venter Institute will support approximately 125 scientists and other staff in their mission to further the institute’s goals in genomic research and policy. The location of the facility, on land leased from UCSD at the … Read more

ST. LOUIS, Mo. — Robin Renschen, corporate director of learning and development with McCarthy Building Companies, Inc., has been appointed chairman of the national Training, Education & Development Forum Steering Committee for the Associated General Contractors of America. AGC developed the TED Forum to enhance performance and career development opportunities for individuals, member firms and the construction industry. Renschen will hold the position for a three-year term. With more than 20 years of experience aligning learning and performance objectives to business strategy and delivering quantifiable results, Renschen is an industry-recognized learning and organizational development leader. Since joining McCarthy in 2008, … Read more

By Peter Gardner On a recent $130-million pharmaceutical manufacturing plant project, Torcon’s team implemented its innovative Set to Work program focused on addressing the initial requirements of the process equipment and associated systems. This approach is particularly appropriate for functional/utility-rich facilities, although there are clear lessons for office buildings, hotels, school facilities, hospitals and other projects. In a pharmaceutical manufacturing environment, the building itself is secondary to the processes within. Although research labs are among the critical components of the product development process, manufacturing facilities help pharmaceutical companies cross the finish line and get medicines and other products out in … Read more