Rhode Island Innovation Complex Breaks Ground

The $150 million Wexford Innovation Complex broke ground on former Interstate 95 land in Providence recently. Image courtesy Ayers Saint Gross.

The $150 million Wexford Innovation Complex broke ground on former Interstate 95 land in Providence recently and is expected to create a hub of entrepreneurship for research, medical and biotech industries for the city and state.

"For too long, the I-195 land was nothing but dirt," Gov. Gina Raimondo (D-RI) said at the Sept. 25 groundbreaking. "Today marks the start of something transformational, not just for this land, but for our state and its economy.”

Shawmut Design and Construction Co. was selected as the general contractor for the two-phase project expected to take approximately two years, said a spokesman for Gov. Raimondo. Ayers Saint Gross is the architect.

The nearly 195,000-sq-ft complex’s tenants will include the Brown University School of Professional Studies, Johnson & Johnson’s health and technology center and the Cambridge Innovation Center. The Cambridge Innovation Center plans to locate an 8,000-sq-ft Innovation Hall and non-profit Venture Cafe-dedicated civic spaces modeled after the center’s District Hall in the Seaport District of Boston, where entrepreneurs can gather and exchange ideas.

Johanna Knapschaefer, ENR’s New England Special Correspondent, has been writing about trends in design and construction of buildings, bridges, tunnels and other infrastructure for more than a decade. She also profiles award-winning industry leaders and delves into broader construction issues such as workforce training, worker safety and health, climate change remediation and emerging offshore wind and tidal energy developments. Over the past two decades, her articles have appeared in Architectural Record, BusinessWeek, the Boston Globe, American Banker, Modern Metals, BusinessNH Magazine, Pittsburgh Magazine and many other publications. Johanna is fluent in Japanese, and taught English and academic writing in the Science and Engineering Department of Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto, while living in Japan for eight years.

When not writing, Johanna enjoys mountain climbing, singing and playing her Spanish guitar.