Turner-led JV wraps $300M Case Western research building

A joint venture led by Turner Construction has completed the $300 million Roger E. Susi Interdisciplinary Research Building at Case Western Reserve University, architect HGA announced on Oct. 22.

The 189,000-square-foot facility, Case Western's largest campus development project in decades, houses research areas for students and faculty across multiple scientific disciplines. Discovery Builders, the JV that delivered it, won the contract from the university in April 2024.

Alongside New York City-based Turner, the JV includes Cleveland-based Next Generation Construction and The AKA Team, plus Berea, Ohio-based Adrian Maldonado & Associates.

What does the building deliver for researchers?

Flexibility is the design thesis. HGA designed labs that can shift and adapt to advancing technologies and equipment, per the firm's announcement. At the structure's center, a four-story atrium connects two laboratory bars and, in the architect's words, promotes cross-discipline discussion.

Sustainability targets are explicit. HGA designed the building to meet LEED Gold certification standards, with energy-efficient labs, sustainable materials and a rainwater capture system.

How did the team build on a live campus?

The hardest problem was logistics, not design. Building a research facility on an active campus ranked among the largest challenges the construction team faced, Jack Kellogg, project executive at Turner, told Construction Dive via email.

"Through detailed planning, 3D modeling, and offsite fabrication of major components, we were able to reduce the amount of work required on site and better coordinate construction," Kellogg said.

That method matters for practitioners: prefabrication and model-driven coordination cut site disruption where campuses cannot shut down.

Is higher education construction still growing?

Yes, and the Susi completion lands amid a crowded pipeline. Flintco broke ground on a $350 million health studies project on Oct. 12 for the University of Tennessee. On Oct. 20, Western Kentucky University broke ground on a $350 million student housing project with Gilbane Development, part of a multiphase campus overhaul.

The Susi building cost matches roughly 85% of each of those two projects, a measure of how concentrated capital spending on campuses has become.

Turner expects the sector to keep producing work.

"Higher education will continue to be an important part of Turner's work," Kellogg said. "We see continued investment in research facilities, modernization of buildings, and spaces that support new technologies and evolving educational needs."

For contractors and designers, the message from Cleveland is direct: adaptable lab cores, LEED Gold systems and offsite fabrication are now baseline expectations on nine-figure university research jobs.