Life sciences construction has a bright future, even as the way these projects are built evolves.
That’s according to Raj Vora, life sciences core market leader at DPR Construction, who has spent nearly nine years with the Redwood City, California-based firm and more than two decades in the AEC industry. Vora has worked on a variety of life sciences projects, focusing on manufacturing, cell and gene therapy, bio-containment and vivaria facilities.
The life sciences segment makes up 20% of DPR’s revenue and the firm continues to be bullish about the sector, despite some cooling of the construction boom that followed the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Here, Vora talks with Construction Dive about which life sciences sectors are poised to grow, the impact of AI and changing project delivery methods.
This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
CONSTRUCTION DIVE: There have been some signs of the life sciences construction slowing down in the past year. How are you feeling about the sector?
RAJ VORA: Quite the opposite, large scale manufacturing is on the rise globally. If anything has slowed down, it's the developer-led tenant lab market where vacancy rates continue to be elevated.
Where do you see the most growth in the near future?
Near term is going to be increased manufacturing capacity for weight loss drugs as this market is growing exponentially. I also think compounding pharmacies will be on the rise to help alleviate the growing costs associated with brand name drugs.
How have you seen the life sciences building industry change over your career?
Finances are increasingly tightening — when I started, money in the sector was being spent like it was infinite, as biotech was growing at an intense rate.
Additionally, almost all projects were design-bid-build, but are now trending towards more and more EPCM and design-build deliveries.
The other major trend is that many A/E or consulting engineering firms have transitioned from pure design houses to now having a construction arm in hopes of providing full-service turnkey solutions.
What tech trends are most shaping the sector?
We can't talk tech without talking AI. I just read an article about how AI is being used in cleanrooms for predictive maintenance.
AI is going to continue to grow in the sector both from the design and construction side to owner operations. It will be interesting to see which jobs stay human-based versus AI.
Tell us about a life sciences project you worked on that you’re especially proud of.
I am proud of the Human Genome Sciences Large Scale Manufacturing project in Rockville, Maryland, which consisted of bioreactors used for monoclonal antibody production. This greenfield project went from groundbreaking to batch runs in 24 months both under budget and ahead of schedule.
It was the most challenging yet exciting bulk manufacturing project I have ever worked on. Because it was bulk manufacturing, there were significant miles of hygienic piping along with the associated process equipment including seed trains, media and buffer tanks, water for injection and clean steam, diafiltration and tangential flow filtration skids, centrifuges and ethanol-based chromatography.
The design, construction and owner teams all had great relationships so the morale during the project was always high, making the project an enjoyable success.
