The University of Connecticut Health Center’s Cell and Genome Sciences Building was recently named Renovated Lab of the Year for 2011 by R&D Magazine.
Designed by architect Goody Clancy of Boston and BVH Engineers of Bloomfield, Conn,. the new laboratory facility was built by FIP Construction who oversaw all pre-construction planning, scheduling and overall construction activities on the project.
The 117,000gsf gut renovation of a vacant former industrial laboratory has created a new interdisciplinary research center, bringing together geneticists, cell and molecular biologists, theorists, computer scientists, and mathematicians, working together in pursuit of a variety of translational research goals.
In collaboration with Goody Clancy, FIP Construction changed a 1970s industrial research facility into a state-of-the-art cell and genome lab, connected to natural light and the surrounding landscape. The existing facility had resulted in many interior spaces with no daylight; these were transformed into open, flexible labs in an orderly circulation pattern. UCHC’s ambitious program for the building included not only researchers
representing a number of departments and organizations in the medical school and medical research enterprise, but incubator labs to support the commercialization of new research, and all the amenities, including food service, bicycle parking and showers, conference rooms, food service and a 100-seat auditorium, to support a free-standing research facility. Beyond the complex program, the building was required to receive a minimum LEED Silver rating, and stay within a very restricted budget.
Goody Clancy’s design created a complete transformation of the non-descript existing building. Formerly solid exterior walls were opened up with more than 50 new punched window openings, and over 450 linear feet of skylights were added to not only bring daylight into the deeper interior spaces of the two-acre building footprint, but to emphasize key circulation routes and improve the legibility of the building plan for visitors. The former program areas which were tightly clustered were completely reconfigured, to create a mix of office space, labs, and support spaces that would be more amenable to the needs of an academic medical center research program. Walls between labs and public spaces were opened up with borrowed lites to enhance daylight penetration, and to enhance visual connection between the different program elements.
The building houses new-state of the art systems. And not just research equipment, although the microscopy, translational genomics, and screening facilities are all top-of-the-line. The mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems were completely replaced with modern, high-efficiency equipment. A new data center in the building supports ongoing building use, and is also a site for the Virtual Cell program, designated as a National Resource by NIH.
And state of the art audio-video equipment and telecommunications capabilities allow the auditorium and conference facilities to be used not only for a wide variety of scientific presentations, but also for videoconferencing to
the main UCHC campus, or to anywhere on the planet. To help keep on-budget, the original exterior envelope was maintained as the boundary of the new work. Since the overall shape of the building was unchanged, Goody Clancy used the new windows and their associated sunshades, as well as a new canopy for the new front entrance location as design elements to help express the new ownership and use of the facility. The site was also completely re-landscaped, not only to enhance the building’s image, but to install native vegetation and create a new set of bioswales and
bioretention ponds to better manage stormwater on the site. The Lab of the Year judges were impressed by the way Goody Clancy’s design decisions made the best use of the budget, saying, “This renovation succeeded because of its focus on what is important to get the right people to be willing to work in the facility.” And “It should open the eyes of current owners and potential future users that there are wonderful opportunities for most existing buildings.” Or, in the words of Dr. John Carson, one of the building’s scientist occupants, “The physical transformation of the building from what it was to what it is now is as dramatic as the metamorphosis of a caterpillar into a butterfly. The intensity and quality of daylight brought into the building is stunning. The grove of trees in the back and the breakroom are grace notes that immediately enhanced scientific and social interaction and improved livability of the building by providing informal congregation areas… The cross-roads and adjacent open demo lab are spectacular engines of scientific synergy within the building.”
