Project Function

Bio-Technology Research Center (BTRC)/Future of Medicine

Alfred Newton Richard Medical Research Building
 


 * Program:
 * 1) Laboratories
 * 2) Service Tower
 * 3) Offices
 * 4) Animal Kennels
 * Richards Building: three towers attached in pinwheel formation to a central fourth tower that houses mechanical systems, research animals, stairs and elevators.
 * Goddard:two laboratory towers and service tower (for stairs, elevators, etc.) are connected in a straight line to the westernmost tower of the Richards
 * building.
 * 1) ​Air intake shafts.
 * 2) Air exhaust shafts.
 * 3) Stairs shafts.
 * Integration Elements:
 * Physical:Integration with service layer into laboratory ceiling
 * Visual:
 * 1) Structure envelope: exposed structural system.
 * 2) Mechanical Envelope: Air shafts are more dramatic than function required but combined with stair towers they make visually convening elements.
 * Performance:
 * 1) Site: the served and serviced aspects of the architectural intention are visually well served by formal arrangement of the building.
 * 2) Mechanical: Flexibility was initially provided by the open floor plan and the accessible ceiling service layer.
 * 3) Site Mechanical: Low inlet and high exhaust air steams are separated by the exaggerated vent stacks to prevent cross-pollution of fresh air.

Salk Institute For Biological Studies by Louis Kahn

 * symmetrical plan, two laboratory wings mirroring each other separated by an open plaza.
 * separation of the laboratories and the individual study spaces was intended.
 * The buildings each have six stories, with the first three floors containing laboratories and the last three with utilities. These spaces are connected to protruding towers that contain spaces for individual studies linked with bridges.
 * Services:
 * 1) Horizontal:the interstitial layers are deep enough to carry mechanical, electrical and plumping system and wires.
 * 2) Vertical services:Providing silence and light of sun.
 * Integration:
 * Physical
 * 1) Vierendel beams for interstitial cavity for distribution and maintenance of services Distribution of services Horizontal and vertical.
 * 2) The building is folded into the slope site to maximize views to ocean.
 * Visual
 * 1) Courtyard and Outside study carrels.
 * 2) Jewel surrounding by ruins from sun and noise.
 * 3) Articulation of 29 separate structure.
 * 4) Placing mechanical storage and laboratories to the east and library and offices to the west end to allow views to the ocean.
 * Performance:
 * 1) The free span of laboratory floor and their large open areas.
 * 2) The large panes of glass used in laboratory and mechanical spaces are easily removed for the #movement of large pieces of equipment.
 * 3) 12 air change per hour.

Case Study:
Architects: AND-RÉ

Location: Coimbra,

Portugal Team: Adalgisa de Castro Lopes, Bruno André, Catarina Fernandes, Francisco Salgado Ré, Sara João, Sofia Mota Silva Engineering and Sustainability: AFA Consult Promoter: Coimbra University

Area: 9500 Sq.m Year: 2011

Description:Representing the consolidation of high sustainability concerns, wise program organization criteria, and a strong iconographic language the Biomedical Research Center proposal by AND-RÉ associates a conventional and regular structural system. The pillars and beams are designed under an orthogonal metric of porches of standard sizing, thus allowing a rigorous organization of the interior – with one exterior covering skin covering made of metallic surface modules. More images and architects’ description after the break. The high demands of the intricate Laboratories and Bioterium program, involved a rational organization resolution concluded in a system of maximum functionality. The form of the building is not a mere formal/plastic exercise, but an innovative reply before energy and environment necessities. The proposal not only responds to an high demand ambient requirements, but also reached a response of excellency, going beyond the initial requirements. The volume is understood as a morphic mass, designed under a strategy of solar incidence control. The architecture is the first element to contribute for the success of the organism, answering to the environment commitments, diminishing the dependence in the mechanical systems of artificial environmental control. The system is based in a Morphologic Skin concept that involves the program, rationally distributed in the interior. Although the complex aspect of the form, the proposal appeals to objective construction solutions, executed without shallow forms or plastic artificiality.

Barcelona Biomedical Research Park
From the architect. PRBB building has a total surface of more than 55.000 m2 and is located at a 9000 m2 site at Barcelona's seafront by the Barceloneta beach, between Hospital del Mar and Arts hotel in the Olympic Village. It is a 117x74 meters building of 9 floors above and 3 floors under ground with elliptical shape and a high level of functional polyvalence. The building project has been carried out by a team of two prestigious architects: Manel Brullet and Albert de Pineda, to create a building that adopts the specific objectives of PRBB For the internal arrangement, the space needs and scientific synergy opportunities have been taken into account. For example, GRIB (IMIM-UPF) and CEGEN (UPF-CRG) have their own space although by different institutions. Furthermore, the building is equipped with a computing infrastructure and advanced information technology facilities, has common and relational spaces, a modern auditorium and one of the most advanced animal facility from a technological viewpoint.

New Global Hub for Biomedical Research
The flexible laboratory space is divided into four wings on three floors. HOK’s modular design allows each laboratory neighborhood to be easily subdivided. Floor-to-ceiling glass between laboratory and documentation areas maximizes visibility between teams and provides ample natural light. A mix of formal and informal workspaces encourages collaboration. At the heart of the laboratory space is a central conference center with an auditorium. A central commons building provides additional conference facilities, a small faculty club café and other amenities. A patient trial clinic and incubator labs are located nearby for easy patient access. To align with Ri.MED’s sustainability goals, the team designed the BRBC campus as one of the world’s most environmentally responsive and resource-efficient research facilities. The design aims to achieve a minimum of LEED® Gold certification from the Green Building Council Italia.

Weill Cornell Medical College Belfer Research Building
From the architect. The new Belfer Research Building provides Weill Cornell Medical College with a cutting-edge medical research facility in close proximity to the institution’s existing clinical, research and academic buildings, reinforcing its mission as an urban academic biomedical center and world leader in its field. An outgrowth of Ennead’s 2003 master plan for the campus, the design of the Belfer Research Building is intended to complement the National Healthcare Design Award-winning Weill Greenberg Center, the institution’s flagship ambulatory care facility designed by Schliemann and opened in 2007. A two-story space extends from the Belfer entrance to a landscaped garden that connects the two buildings and creates an internalized campus green for Weill Cornell. Classrooms, conference rooms, lounge and study spaces, and a café are connected to the garden. A humanistic research environment, the building is designed to facilitate high-impact translational research, providing both state-of-the-art efficiency and optimal quality of life on thirteen floors of laboratories, three floors of academic programs and two floors of research support space. Flexible, transparent, open and easily adaptable spaces are designed to break down research silos and encourage communication and cross-disciplinary collaboration. Natural light is optimized throughout the building as transparency between the office and the laboratory zones allows light from the south to permeate the lab bench area, enhancing the environment within the entire laboratory and allowing visual communication between principal investigators and laboratory researchers. Outside the lab, principal investigators’ offices are located along a common corridor that includes shared collaborative spaces – conference rooms, computational spaces, lounge spaces and break room. A connecting stair linking the office corridor of each floor to an adjacent floor above or below reinforces interdisciplinary interaction. A digital media wall designed by the London-based firm Squint Opera is part of the building’s sophisticated art program. Visible from the street, it reinforces the transparency of the façade. For both passersby and the scientists and students in the Medical College, the media wall celebrates the spirit of the institution. Both art piece and information resource, the wall consists of over 2,500 high-resolution screens, each behind a lens module, that animate the ground level with a dynamic and innovative installation that conveys information at varying scales and relays the story of the exciting work being accomplished within the building. The building envelope features a high-performance double-skinned, fritted-glass curtain wall that defines the building’s formal identity and maximizes energy efficiency. The passively vented system is designed to promote controlled convection within the wall cavity, mitigating extreme temperatures on the exterior of the building and significantly reducing temperatures on the interior glass. Openings and sun-shading devices enhance visual and thermal comfort within the office zone, reducing the cooling requirements and the overall carbon footprint of the building in excess of US Green Building Council requirements. Industry standard components and construction methods are used in the curtainwall design to provide an economically sensitive sustainable solution. In addition, the incorporation of energy efficient HVAC, lighting control, and water conservation systems, sustainable materials and green construction technologies will enable the building to save approximately 30 percent on energy consumption and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 26 percent, in comparison to a building complying with the minimum requirements set by typical industry guidelines and standards. The Belfer Research Building is designed to achieve LEED Gold.