In 2012, the 90,000-sf Molecular Engineering and Sciences Building was completed on the University of Washington Campus. This past summer, the five-story, 78,000-sf Nanoengineering and Sciences Building was completed. The two connected buildings make up a 168,000-sf complex that accommodates growth in the molecular engineering and nanoengineering fields, responds to the evolving interdisciplinary nature of teaching and research, and fits within a historic, high-density area of the UW campus.
The new $87.8 million, ZGF Architects-designed nanoengineering building will house the UW Institute for Nano-Engineered Systems and is specifically equipped for the performance or organic, inorganic, and biomolecular synthesis. The limestone, aluminum and glass curtain wall facility can accommodate students and faculty in a variety of nanoengineering disciplines such as energy, materials science, computation, and medicine.
Photo: Aaron Leitz Photography.
Flexibility of space was a driver for both phases of the complex. Research labs were designed to adapt as the equipment, research, and faculty change. Overhead service carriers above the lab benches allow for researchers to “plug and play” in any location. At the end of each lab there are rooms that can be arranged to house large equipment or specialty research spaces.
In addition to the labs, the new building also includes general-purpose classrooms, conference rooms, and collaboration spaces. Floors two through four are programmed research laboratory spaces. The first floor includes two highly adaptable classrooms and a shared, informal learning center.
Because the nanoengineering building has mainly southern and northern exposures, ZGF needed a strategy to address the added heat loads to the building due to the different orientation from phase one. Radiant flooring is used for heating and cooling purposes and chilled sails are used in the ceilings along the south wall of the office spaces. The units are ceiling-mounted and flush to the ceiling plane.
Photo: Aaron Leitz Photography.
The new facility incorporates numerous sustainability features such as rain gardens and green roofs planted with vegetation to attract native bees. Stormwater runoff will be directed to the roof gardens to reduce runoff to additional drainage systems.
One of the more unique sustainable features is the use of phase-change materials (PCM). PCM is a gel that becomes warm and liquid during the day and solidifies at night. It is encapsulated in walls and ceiling panels of the naturally ventilated spaces and reduces temperature as it changes material states. The PCM is composed of an inorganic material base and is “charged” at night when windows to office spaces are automatically opened to provide a flush of cool air. The PCM has been shown to reduce the temperature around 1.5 to 2 degrees during peek times on the hottest days of the year.
Photo: Aaron Leitz Photography.
The building team included Hoffman Construction Company (GC), KPFF (civil engineering, structural engineering), AEI (MEP), Site Workshop (landscape architecture), Research Facilities Design (lab planning), and Studio SC (graphics, wayfinding signage).
Photo: Aaron Leitz Photography.
Photo: Aaron Leitz Photography.
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
Perkins Eastman awarded Indian School of Business campus
The New York office of Perkins Eastman has been commissioned by the Indian School of Business for a 70-acre, 1.5 million-sf new business school campus as part of a 300-acre “Knowledge City” in Chandigarh, Mohali, India. The sustainable campus will accommodate four centers of excellence: healthcare management, public policy, manufacturing/operations, and physical infrastructure manag...
| Aug 11, 2010
Opening night close for Kent State performing arts center
The curtain opens on the Tuscarawas Performing Arts Center at Kent State University in early 2010, giving the New Philadelphia, Ohio, school a 1,100-seat multipurpose theater. The team of Legat & Kingscott of Columbus, Ohio, and Schorr Architects of Dublin, Ohio, designed the 50,000-sf facility with a curving metal and glass façade to create a sense of movement and activity.
| Aug 11, 2010
Residence hall designed specifically for freshman
Hardin Construction Company's Austin, Texas, office is serving as GC for the $50 million freshman housing complex at the University of Houston. Designed by HADP Architecture, Austin, the seven-story, 300,000-sf facility will be located on the university's central campus and have 1,172 beds, residential advisor offices, a social lounge, a computer lab, multipurpose rooms, a fitness center, and a...
| Aug 11, 2010
University of Florida's traditionally modern graduate building
The University of Florida's Hough Hall Graduate Studies Building was designed by Rowe Architects, Tampa, and Sasaki Associates, Boston, to blend with the school's traditional collegiate gothic architecture outside, but reflect a 21st-century education facility inside. Tallahassee-based Ajax Building Corporation is constructing the $19 million facility, which will have traditional exterior detai...
| Aug 11, 2010
Construction under way on LEED Platinum DOE energy lab
Centennial, Colo.-based Haselden Construction has topped out the $64 million Research Support Facilities, located on the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) campus in Golden, Colo. Designed by RNL and Stantec to achieve LEED Platinum certification and net zero energy performance, the 218,000-sf facility will feature natural ventilation through operable ...
| Aug 11, 2010
Stimulus funding helps get NOAA project off the ground
The award-winning design for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s new Southwest Fisheries Science Center replacement laboratory saw its first sign of movement last month with a groundbreaking ceremony held in La Jolla, Calif. The $102 million project is funded primarily by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
| Aug 11, 2010
New Jersey's high-tech landscaping facility
Designed to enhance the use of science and technology in Bergen County Special Services' landscaping programs, the new single-story facility at the technical school's Paramus campus will have 7,950 sf of classroom space, a 1,000-sf greenhouse (able to replicate different environments, such as rainforest, desert, forest, and tundra), and 5,000 sf of outside landscaping and gardening space.
| Aug 11, 2010
Florida International University's cantilevered design
Suffolk Construction's Miami-Dade business unit is serving as GC for the $14 million School of International and Public Affairs building at the University Park Campus of Florida International University. Designed by Arquitectonica, Miami, the five-story, 58,408-sf building will have a café and three auditoriums on the ground level; the largest auditorium will have a 40-foot cantilever abov...
| Aug 11, 2010
Research Facility Breaks the Mold
In the market for state-of-the-art biomedical research space in Boston's Longwood Medical Area? Good news: there are still two floors available in the Center for Life Science | Boston, a multi-tenant, speculative high-rise research building designed by Tsoi/Kobus & Associates, Boston, and developed by Lyme Properties, Hanover, N.
| Aug 11, 2010
Precast All the Way
For years, precast concrete has been viewed as a mass-produced product with no personality or visual appeal—the vanilla of building materials. Thanks to recent technological innovations in precast molds and thin veneers, however, that image is changing. As precast—concrete building components that are poured and molded offsite—continues to develop a vibrant personality all it...
